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Page de couverture de Workplace Stories by RedThread Research

Workplace Stories by RedThread Research

Workplace Stories by RedThread Research

Auteur(s): Stacia Garr & Dani Johnson
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 At RedThread, we love data—but we know stories are what stick. That’s why we bring together thinkers, writers, leaders, and practitioners to share real-world insights about what works in the workplace, what they’ve learned, and where the future of work is headed. We keep it insightful, thought-provoking, and maybe even a little irreverent.

But we don’t stop at conversations. Our research, events, and community turn insights into action, helping organizations and individuals navigate the changing world of work.

Want to be part of the conversation? Join our community for free and connect with others shaping the future of work.

Learn more about RedThread Research here: https://redthreadresearch.com/homeRedThread Research 2024 Développement commercial et entrepreneuriat Entrepreneurship Gestion et leadership Économie
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  • Reimagining Work at Scale: Manuel Smukalla on Skills, Dynamic Shared Ownership, and the Future of Bayer

    Reimagining Work at Scale: Manuel Smukalla on Skills, Dynamic Shared Ownership, and the Future of Bayer
    Jan 21 2026
    Manuel Smukalla, Global Talent Impact, Skills Intelligence, and Systems Lead at Bayer, joins Workplace Stories to unpack one of the most ambitious organizational transformations underway today. As Bayer confronts significant market, legal, and profitability pressures, the company has taken a radically different approach to how work, leadership, and talent are structured, rethinking everything from management layers to career progression.In this episode, Manuel walks through Bayer’s shift to Dynamic Shared Ownership (DSO), a decentralized operating model built around networks of teams, 90-day work cycles, and leaders who coach rather than control. He explains why skills visibility became a foundational requirement for this model to work and how Bayer is using skills data to democratize opportunities, improve talent flow, and fundamentally rethink careers inside a global enterprise.You’ll hear how Bayer reduced management layers by more than half, redesigned leadership expectations through its VAC (Visionary, Architect, Catalyst, Coach) model, and moved toward a culture where employees are empowered, and expected, to own their work, development, and impact.You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...[01:01] Why Bayer embarked on a radical organizational transformation.[04:30] What Dynamic Shared Ownership really means in practice.[06:55] Moving from hierarchical structures to networks of teams.[10:40] Why skills visibility became a critical business problem.[14:05] How 90-day work cycles change accountability and outcomes.[18:10] Building organizations around customer problems, not functions.[21:15] Launching skills profiles as a starting point, not an endpoint.[23:00] How Bayer’s talent marketplace democratizes opportunity at scale.[27:00] The three pillars of a skills-based organization.[33:00] Rethinking careers, performance management, and feedback.[43:10] The VAC leadership model explained.[52:30] Measuring success in a decentralized organization.[53:45] Advice for organizations considering similar transformations.Dynamic Shared Ownership: Redesigning How Work Gets DoneAt the core of Bayer’s transformation is Dynamic Shared Ownership, an operating model that replaces traditional hierarchies with flexible networks of teams. Manuel explains how Bayer reduced its management layers from thirteen to six and reorganized work into 90-day cycles focused on clear outcomes. After each cycle, teams reflect on what worked, what didn’t, and whether the work should continue at all.This approach decentralizes decision-making and forces a shift away from command-and-control leadership. Leaders are no longer expected to direct every task; instead, they create the conditions for teams to succeed, setting direction while trusting teams to determine how outcomes are achieved.Skills as the Engine of Talent FlowFor Dynamic Shared Ownership to function, Bayer needed a new way to understand and deploy talent. Manuel shares a pivotal realization: managers were turning to LinkedIn to understand employee skills because the organization lacked internal visibility. That insight sparked Bayer’s skills journey.Rather than starting with complex taxonomies, Bayer focused first on skill visibility. Employees created and maintained skills profiles, supported by workshops on how to describe capabilities effectively. Over time, this evolved into a talent marketplace that matches people to work based on skills, not job titles, career level, or location, helping democratize access to opportunities across the enterprise.Moving Talent to Work, Not Work to TalentManuel outlines three defining pillars of a skills-based organization. First, talent must move to work rather than work being constrained by static roles. Second, organizations must commit to permanent upskilling, recognizing that development is continuous, not episodic. Third, opportunities must be democratized at scale, reducing reliance on manager sponsorship or informal networks.Bayer’s marketplace supports fixed roles, flex roles, and fully agile project-based work, encouraging employees to actively shape their careers while remaining accountable for outcomes. This model challenges long-held assumptions about promotions, ladders, and linear advancement.Leadership and Performance in a Decentralized WorldLeadership at Bayer has been redefined through the VAC model: Visionary, Architect, Catalyst, and Coach. Leaders set direction, help teams design how value is created, remove barriers, and support rapid cycles of learning. This requires significant unlearning for leaders shaped by traditional hierarchies.Performance management has also shifted. Goals are set in 90-day cycles at the team level, with feedback coming from peers and work leads rather than solely from a direct manager. Over time, this creates richer data on contribution and impact, but also demands a cultural shift toward transparency, shared accountability, and continuous ...
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    59 min
  • Centralizing for Strategy: Christine Crouch on L&D Transformation at General Mills

    Centralizing for Strategy: Christine Crouch on L&D Transformation at General Mills
    Dec 17 2025
    Christine Crouch, Senior Director of Learning at General Mills, joins Workplace Stories to discuss a massive shift in how one of the world's legacy food companies approaches talent development. General Mills has recently transitioned to a centralized and integrated learning model.

    In this episode, Christine lays out one of the clearest cases for centralization we have heard. While efficiency is a benefit, she argues that the true drivers are decision-making power and better data. By unifying the function, General Mills gains a stronger view of learning activity and business needs, creating the strategic infrastructure necessary for the future of work.

    You’ll hear how Christine’s team manages to be centralized without losing the "local feel" through a robust Learning Business Partner model. She also details how centralization unlocks the ability to correlate learning metrics with talent outcomes like retention and performance. Finally, Christine shares her philosophy on AI, not as a replacement for human connection, but as a tool to elevate the human side of learning.

    You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...

    • [06:07] Background on General Mills and its culture.
    • [07:00] The shift from decentralized to centralized L&D.
    • [11:11] How to make centralization feel local to business stakeholders.
    • [18:30] The Learning Business Partner model explained.
    • [21:07] Correlating learning metrics with talent outcomes.
    • [27:58] Managing "rogue purchases" in a centralized model.
    • [34:20] Why AI will elevate, not replace, the human side of learning.
    • [47:35] Piloting AI coaching tools like "Nadia".

    The Strategic Case for Centralization
    For many organizations, the move to centralize L&D is purely a cost-cutting exercise. However, Christine frames the shift at General Mills as a play for better data and strategic decision-making. A centralized function provides a unified view of the organization's needs, allowing L&D to prioritize investments that drive enterprise-wide capabilities rather than just solving isolated functional problems. As AI accelerates, this strong data infrastructure is what will allow the organization to distinguish between what people actually need to know versus what can be offloaded to technology.

    The Learning Business Partner Model
    Centralization often brings the fear of losing touch with the business. General Mills solves this through the "Learning Business Partner" role, individuals who sit on the leadership teams of specific functions or segments but report back to the central L&D organization. These partners act as a bridge; they understand the HR strategy and business plans of their specific function while ensuring continuity with the broader enterprise goals. They are expected to be performance consultants first, identifying the root problems to solve rather than just taking orders for training.

    AI: Elevating the Human Element
    Christine’s approach to AI is grounded in optimism and human-centricity. She believes AI will not replace the human side of learning but elevate it. General Mills is actively piloting AI for tasks like personalization, automation, and coaching via a tool called "Nadia," which acts as an "always-on" coach. However, Christine emphasizes that deep skill building, like change leadership, still requires human connection, peer discussion, and the ability to "read the room," skills that AI cannot fully replicate.

    Connect with Christine Crouch

    • Christine Crouch on LinkedIn
    Connect With Red Thread Research

    • Website: Red Thread Research
    • On LinkedIn
    • On Facebook
    • On Twitter

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    53 min
  • Building a Skills-Based Organization with Koreen Pagano

    Building a Skills-Based Organization with Koreen Pagano
    Dec 3 2025
    On the latest episode of Workplace Stories, we sit down with Koreen Pagano, author of "Building a Skills-Based Organization," to talk about one of the hottest and most complex topics in the world of work: how organizations can become truly skills-based, and what that really means in today’s rapidly changing, AI-driven landscape. The conversation was loaded with practical insights, candid stories, and wisdom from the front lines of workforce transformation.Koreen shares her journey from ed-tech and product leadership to guiding hundreds of organizations through the maze of skills transformation. We discuss the crucial front-of-house and back-of-house elements, from clear communication and partnership models to building the right data and technology infrastructure. You’ll hear fresh perspectives on using skills data as an early signal for retention, the shifting role of tasks versus skills, and what it means to future-proof your workforce for ongoing change. You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...[05:17] Skills vs job architecture approaches.[10:04] Navigating skills-based organizations.[14:33] Workforce data challenges with AI.[23:04] Skills over jobs for strategy.[27:04] Building resilient data systems.[34:33] Building trust in skill data.[39:32] Predicting employee retention through data.[45:59] Helping organizations align AI transformation with business goals.Why Skills Still Matter in a “Task-Talk” WorldThere’s a persistent misconception that the age of “skills” has passed and that “tasks” offer a more practical lens, especially with AI in play. Koreen shares how, at a recent industry event, she heard professionals say, “We don’t need to worry about skills, we have to focus on tasks.” But she thinks that it’s misguided to abandon skills just when organizations are barely starting to understand and leverage them.While tasks describe the work to be done, skills reflect the underlying human (and sometimes machine) capabilities that make that work possible. Both are crucial, but without a foundational understanding of your organization's skills, mapping tasks is like building on sand.Front of House, Back of House, and Getting Skills RightWe need to balance “front of house” and “back of house” considerations when building a skills-based organization. Organizations often focus either on external communications, partnerships, and culture (front of house), or purely on technology, data, and infrastructure (back of house), but rarely both. Koreen is unique in straddling the two, and it’s this holistic approach, blending people and process with tech and data, that sets successful organizations apart.The Evolution of Data and the Rise of Skills VerificationOrganizations are beginning to realize that their skills data isn’t just about upskilling or reskilling; it’s tightly connected to business-critical outcomes like retention, performance, and the ability to adapt to market shifts. Koreen shares compelling examples of using skills data to provide early warning on issues like employee retention, demonstrating data-driven HR in action.She also shared her pragmatic “3Vs” model for validating skills data: Validity (how well the data measures what it claims to), Variety (different types of data from varied sources), and Volume (quantity and frequency of data collected). You can make solid business decisions with basic self-reported skills data, but for higher-stakes calls, like hiring, you need much more rigorous, validated information.Jobs, Skills, and the Trap of Static StructuresOften, organizations anchor their skills strategy to their job architecture. Consultants and technology vendors frequently push companies to start by mapping skills to static jobs. We discuss why this is a dangerous place to “end”, because jobs, roles, and the tasks that define them are changing faster than ever, especially with AI in the mix. Koreen advocates for designing skills data that is flexible, lives independently, and can be mapped to jobs and tasks as they evolve, never becoming held hostage by legacy structures.Goals Over TasksPerhaps the most powerful call to action was the need to focus less on micromanaging the “how” (a long list of tasks) and more on the “what and why”, the goals, outcomes, and genuine business objectives. In a future where work is constantly shifting, organizations that empower people around purpose, supported by dynamic skills data, will outperform those stuck mapping today’s tasks to yesterday’s job charts.Building a skills-based organization isn't a project with a tidy endpoint, it’s a transformation. As Koreen reminds us, it’s hard, messy, and as much about culture as it is about data. But for the organizations (and the people) willing to experiment, adapt, and keep skills at the center of strategy, the payoff is a workforce that’s ready for whatever comes next. Resources & People MentionedBuilding the ...
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    57 min
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