This highlight video is from May 08, 2025 session ✨ AI Practical Lab: Aligning Learning with Organizational Goals

Session Focus: Harnessing AI to Connect Learning with Strategic Business Execution (Use Case: Zurn/Elkay Culture Building Post M&A)

This session provided senior HR and talent leaders with an immersive, hands-on opportunity to explore how generative AI—specifically Microsoft Copilot—can bridge the gap between learning initiatives and business strategy.

As organizations continue to evolve—through mergers, digital transformation, or shifts in workforce expectations—talent leaders are expected to do more than manage programs. We're being asked to deliver strategic value that shapes culture, enables leadership, and drives execution.

That’s why the theme of our May 8 AI Practical Lab, “Aligning Learning with Organizational Goals,” resonated so strongly.

We grounded the session in a live case from Jenny Heitman, HR Business Partner at Zurn Elkay, as she works to rebuild engagement and leadership alignment in a post-merger environment. Her insight framed the challenge succinctly:

"We’re rebalancing our efforts—performance goals matter, but how we lead matters just as much." -- Jenny Heitman, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

This wasn’t a theoretical discussion—it was a practical lab. With support from Jason Davis, Behati Hart, and Peter Hogaboam, participants learned how to:

• Use Microsoft Copilot to structure a learning strategy,
• Align behaviors with values across job families, and
• Generate measurable outcomes that matter to the business.

As Peter reminded us, success with AI starts with a mindset shift:

"Try things. Be curious. Upload a document. Ask how AI would approach the problem. That’s where the value shows up." -- Peter Hogaboam, CNA Insurance

🔑 Top 3 Key Takeaways for HR Talent Leaders

1. Behavioral Alignment Is the Real Culture Work
   Strategy alone isn’t enough—behavioral consistency across roles is what brings change to life.

2. AI Enhances Strategic Clarity and Speed
   Generative AI, when fed with the right context, can accelerate the creation of blueprints, surface KPIs, and shape actionable learning interventions.

3. Inclusion + Peer Collaboration Drive Sustainable Change
   Engaging employees in co-creating expectations and collaborating across companies fuels belonging, creativity, and buy-in.

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🛠️ 5 Practical Actions You Can Take Now

1. Reinforce Core Values at Every Level
   Map how your values show up in each job family. Use AI tools to draft behavioral guides tailored to functions like marketing, operations, or tech.

2. Train Teams on Prompting and Contextual AI Use
   Encourage your HR and L&D teams to experiment with uploading docs and using AI to synthesize strategic plans, build personas, and generate learning paths.

3. Use ‘How Might We’ Questions to Drive Engagement
   Reframe initiatives as design prompts (e.g., “How might we build accountability into everyday work?”) to spark ideation and shared ownership.

4. Co-Create Success Metrics With Business Leaders
   Define what winning looks like with key stakeholders first, then build learning solutions that support those outcomes.

5. Host Peer-Led AI Practice Labs
   Create safe, vendor-free spaces for your team or community to test tools like Copilot, ChatGPT, or Claude. Share results, iterate together, and grow.

This session underscored a vital shift in our field: the future of learning and development isn’t just about content or delivery—it’s about orchestrating behavior change at scale. AI can help, but it’s still the human insight that drives impact.

As HR talent leaders, we’re at a unique inflection point—where the tools are powerful, the expectations are high, and the opportunity to lead through innovation has never been greater.

Are we ready to challenge our understanding and integrate AI in ways that not only meet but advance our strategic goals?

Let’s keep learning—together and share your journey on ELE Idea Exchange.

For the Culture: The Power Behind What We Buy, What We Do, and Who We Want to Be

"You shouldn’t be afraid of AI taking your job, but you should be afraid of someone who knows how to use AI taking your job." - Mike Kester