Nurturing Models for Youth-Focused Internships
March 18, 2026
| Author(s) | Taryn Blanchard, Sheila Rider and Lisa Taylor |
| Publisher | CERIC |
| ISBN | 978-1-996817-01-8 |
Synopsis
Career Development as Strategy is a practical playbook for organizations seeking to make career development more coherent, visible and effective. While many employers invest heavily in learning, mobility, leadership and wellness initiatives, these efforts are often fragmented, making it difficult for leaders to see impact, enable talent movement or connect people growth to business priorities.
This guide introduces internal career centres as workforce infrastructure – a way to intentionally connect existing career, learning and talent efforts into a co-ordinated system that supports mobility, capability-building and adaptability at scale. Designed for real-world conditions, the playbook helps organizations strengthen what they already have, rather than starting from scratch.
Key topics include:
- Why fragmented career and talent efforts limit organizational impact
- How internal career centres support mobility, reskilling and workforce adaptability
- Assessing organizational readiness before investing in new initiatives or technology
- Building an evidence-informed business case, including ROI considerations
- Prioritizing actions to improve workforce performance without adding unnecessary complexity
Who this resource is for
This playbook is intended for leaders and practitioners responsible for workforce capability and long-term performance, including:
- Executives and senior leaders overseeing workforce strategy
- HR and talent leaders facing mobility, retention or scaling challenges
- Learning and development professionals seeking stronger alignment with business priorities
- Career development professionals supporting internal growth and mobility
- Post-secondary and workforce partners engaged in employer capacity-building
The frameworks and tools are adaptable across sectors, organization sizes and maturity levels.
Get Your Copy
- Download the free epdf
- Print via Amazon.ca
- Purchase bulk copies (10 or more) through CERIC at 30% off. Contact sales@ceric.ca with any questions
How organizations use this playbook – go deeper in the Internal Career Centre Bootcamp
Organizations can use this guide as a standalone resource to clarify thinking, align internal conversations and establish a shared language around career development as strategy. It can also be used as a diagnostic tool to identify gaps, assess readiness and determine where to focus first. For organizations ready to move from insight to action, the playbook provides an entry point for deeper, applied workforce development work.
Watch a short video to hear from bootcamp facilitators and participants from organizations such as Aviso Wealth, Government of Canada. Contact consulting@challengefactory.ca to learn more or join.
Why Talent Gets Stuck (And Why It’s Not a People Problem)
About the Authors
Taryn Blanchard
Taryn Blanchard is Director, Research and Innovation Strategy at Challenge Factory, bridging research, consulting and AI to turn evidence into practical workforce tools. With a PhD in Anthropology, she translates complexity into human-centred career strategy.
Sheila Rider
Sheila Rider is an Associate and Trusted Advisor at Challenge Factory. Formerly a CHRO, she supports career development through strategic workforce design, leadership capability and practical change that enables people to thrive at work.
Lisa Taylor
Lisa Taylor has advised national governments, shaped workforce policy, and guided multinational organizations through complex transformation. Her insights appear in The Globe and Mail, Forbes and OECD reports. She is Founder and CEO of Challenge Factory.
Review
“This recent publication makes the business case for the establishment of internal career centres, providing a framework for employers and a coherent system to strengthen staff retention and work/job/worker agility, and to deliver measurable business results.
Described as a ‘playbook,’ it’s more like a workbook that explains the key concepts, gives examples of their application, facilitates the reader to examine how to apply them to their particular organization, and reflect and advance. It progresses from awareness raising to action, from piloting to practice, and from creating internal momentum to creating lasting impact. The guide is well written, well presented, easy to follow, has excellent graphics, has a very useful glossary and set of tools in the appendices including a summary of key questions based on each chapter to enhance the learning and development process.
While the establishment and organization of internal careers centres will depend on company size and resources, the principles presented and the tools provided in this practical publication should be of interest and pertinence to any forward-thinking employer, regardless of company size and resources.”
– International Centre for Career Development and Public Policy (ICCDPP)
FREE webinar Why Career Development Fails in Organizations Without Infrastructure
Join Lisa Taylor and Carli Fink of Challenge Factory on April 20 for a free webinar exploring how to help employers shift from program-based approaches toward building internal career centres.