When pressed to run a Learning & Development team that reliably, efficiently, and predictably impacts performance, time and time again professionals turn to Agile. As an approach, it has long been employed in HR and L&D teams but like most trends, when the hype dies down many move their attention to elsewhere. However, why move on from something that works? In this episode, Natal Dank returns to the podcast to bring us up to date with how Agile is continuing to make impact to L&D teams.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Building business agility is about creating a toolkit tailored to how the business operates.
• Increasingly businesses are building the customer experience around the product.
• You often need to move and make decisions without knowing everything. Things move too quickly for this not to be the case, which is why Agility is so important.
• Mapping the skills is the key to being able to move fast and be adaptable.
• See the whole employee experience as the L&D product and keep that understanding up to date.
• Human-centred design sprints help you to identify which problems to solve first.
• Understand how you sit in the business stream.
• To get started with Agile use it to solve a single problem. Natal explains how in the podcast.
• Establish some core principles from you hypotheses and start to design around that.

BEST MOMENTS

'You´ve got to deliver now, and not tomorrow.'

'You can´t solve complex problems in silos.'

'Agile is about being laser focused.'

Natal Dank Bio

Following over a decade working in senior HR, Talent and Organisational Development roles, Natal is now a leading figure in Agile HR and People Experience.

Natal heads-up learning, coaching, and community at PXO Culture and is seen as a pioneer in the Agile HR movement. In 2016 Natal hosted the first Agile HR Meetup in London with the aim of building a community of like-minded disrupters, which has since grown into a regular event held across the world from Sydney to Paris and online. A year later she co-founded the Agile HR Community and has recently published the book, Agile HR. Now, through PXO Culture, Natal is focused on defining modern HR for the 21st Century.

You can follow and connect with Natal via:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataldank/

X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/NatalDank

Events & Meetups: https://www.pxoculture.com/events

Agile L&D Book: https://www.koganpage.com/hr-learning-development/agile-l-d-9781398613256

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523

L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

ABOUT THE HOST

David James

David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.

As well as being the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D.

CONTACT METHOD

• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/
• L&D Collective: https://360learning.com/the-l-and-d-collective/
• Blog: https://360learning.com/blog/
• L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

With so much talk, and perhaps hype, around skills-based learning, how do we tune into the signal and tune out the noise? One way to do this is to talk with the leaders who have incorporated skills-based learning in more than one organisation and are making it work for them, their workforce, and organisation. In this episode Brandon Caldwell explains how he’s done just this - the hard way and the AI-powered much faster way - and how you can too.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Skills-based learning is a language that everybody can understand.
• AI is accelerating the rollout of skills-based learning at a staggering pace.
• Using AI a task that would take 4 to 5 years has been done in 18 months.
• Skills-based learning largely solves the issues caused by today´s tight labour market.
• Business leaders already understand that skills-based learning works. They desperately want you to provide it.
• Because the skills are the nuts and bolts that help enable people to do the tasks, this is wholeheartedly performance oriented.
• Introducing skills-based learning is costly, so starting in the right place matters. Brandon explains how to do that.
• Skills are truly transferable. If someone in marketing wants to become an HR manager, they can do that and do it quickly. A marketer knows how to promote the job to attract the best new personnel.
• Anticipate roadblocks and adapt.
• Embrace the technology. It now works and will transform your ability to deliver.

BEST MOMENTS

'With skills-based learning, you are using a language that everybody can understand.'

'Skills are the nuts and bolts that help enable people to do the tasks.'

'The ability to do what used to take years and do it now in a matter of months is significant, and you can't ignore that.'

Brandon Caldwell Bio

Brandon is Director of People & Culture at 365 Retail Markets, the global leader in unattended and self-checkout retail technology. With more than 20 years of experience in HR and L&D leadership, Brandon is a highly credible and impact-driven leader in our field.

Useful links

SkillsGPT: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-bE1ZPceUl-skills-gpt

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523

L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

ABOUT THE HOST

David James

David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.

As well as being the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D.

CONTACT METHOD

• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/
• L&D Collective: https://360learning.com/the-l-and-d-collective/
• Blog: https://360learning.com/blog/
• L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

Skills-based learning is the response to the skills gaps and skills shortages being experienced across organisations, industries, and even entire economies. But how do we ensure that we achieve this, and that skills-based learning isn’t just another fad that departs as swiftly as it emerged without achieving what it’s intended to? In this episode, James Griffin talks about how L&D can step up, upskill, and deliver on the much-heralded promise of skills-based learning.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• L&D as a function needs to be brave and make the change. Skills-based learning is the opportunity to lead the way and make a difference.
• The use of skills data leads to L&D being far more effective.
• You can only measure business impact when you fully understand the problem you are addressing.
• Getting yourself organized around skills is more dynamic.
• Assess people for the work they are doing.
• Being able to build fast and edit regularly keeps the training relevant.
• Skills need to be identified and described using natural, easily understood language.
• Proficiency levels need to be measurable. AI can play a role in this task.
• AI will help us to bridge the gaps. However, each solution needs to be rigorously evaluated.
• Not all businesses are equipped to go down the skills-based learning route. James explains how to get them ready.
• People are an asset; we need to measure their performance and learning and development ROI.

BEST MOMENTS

'The ability for them to be more efficient in the work that they do is now real.'

'Go to the people that do advocate for skills…. go where there is the appetite.'

'Skills are not the end game….increase performance and productivity are.'

James Griffin Bio

James is customer-focused executive, with in-depth consulting experience in enterprise SaaS innovations across the Skills & Talent spectrum.

Over the last 5+ years, James has spent a huge amount of time consulting with the largest enterprises on the planet on how to reimagine their talent transformation strategies and how to get started with skills.

You can follow and contact James via:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesthegriff/

Website: https://skillcollective.co.uk/

SkillsGPT: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-bE1ZPceUl-skillsgpt

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523

L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

ABOUT THE HOST

David James

David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.

As well as being the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D.

CONTACT METHOD

• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/
• L&D Collective: https://360learning.com/the-l-and-d-collective/
• Blog: https://360learning.com/blog/
• L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/