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ELE is a peer-powered community where people leaders don't just reframe challenges — they leave with decisions, next moves, and 30/60/90-day commitments to move real work forward.&nbsp;For 22 years, leaders from Fortune 1000 companies have brought their hardest problems here — and left sharper than they arrived.

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This is where people leaders get sharper — and their teams get smarter.ELE is a peer-powered network of people leaders who accelerate business results through shared intelligence and real-work collaboration. Learn more below about why ELE has been the trusted choice for leaders building high-performing teams for over 20 years.

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Insights on Talent Challenges | Captured Peer Conversations | ELE

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Zurich North America

Session Focus: Creating a skills-based future by integrating talent Practices


Creating an empowering environment that engages employees as active participants is critical for building an authentic skills-driven workforce. This Learning Circle session, Creating a More Skills-based Future, emphasized three key takeaways:
1) Provide employee autonomy in driving skills growth, not just top-down assigned training. "Managing skills from the bottom up, giving employees the ability to stretch their own skill profiles," stated panelist Karl Weston.
2) Enable meaningful skills development through practice, feedback, and experiential opportunities beyond just accessing content. "People need opportunities to practice, get feedback, experience, repetition," noted Brian Richardson.
3) Integrate personalized coaching. "The minute we engaged career coaches, we saw higher engagement and retention rates," shared Geovanny Andino.
While skills architecture, taxonomies and measurement are vital, the panelists highlighted the importance of a human-centric, empowering culture. Balancing technical components with empowerment, enablement and coaching is key.

Building a skills-driven workforce requires more than just implementing technology. It demands holistic environments that inspire employees to own their growth while providing support structures. An empowering culture, not an impersonal competency system, is the goal.

Skills Need a Comprehensive Strategy | Creating a More Skills-based Future

evidence-based research

future of work

Integrated Talent Management

Future of Work

Digital &amp; AI

kyle.swanson

richard.busby

organizational readiness

edward.desrosiers

geovanny.andino

matt.donovan

power skills

critical thinking

Learning Agility

skills​

skillsforthefuture

future of learning

flexibility

internal talent marketplace

personalization of skills

brian.richardson

karl.weston

james.griffin

Skills Need a Comprehensive Strategy

Microsoft

Session Focus: Tips for starting and integrating skills-based talent practices

As organizations look to become more agile and competitive, adopting skills-based talent practices is becoming a strategic priority. But as Shweta Srivastava, Global Skills Leader at Microsoft, shared: "There's no perfect solution here and every company has its own journey based on what problems you are trying to solve and what you're prioritizing what your data architecture looks like and all of that."
In this insightful session on integrating a comprehensive skills strategy, Srivastava outlined Microsoft's approach and key learning so far. Here are three key takeaways:

<ol class="list-decimal pl-8 space-y-2">
 	<li class="whitespace-normal">Developing a comprehensive skills strategy requires understanding and aligning to the specific business problems, priorities and data architecture of your organization. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.</li>
 	<li class="whitespace-normal">Getting accurate data on employees' skills and proficiency levels is critical, but challenging. Using technology for skills inference rather than assessments may be preferable.</li>
 	<li class="whitespace-normal">A skills-based approach cuts across multiple talent practices, so broad organizational change management is needed, including establishing a common skills nomenclature and determining governance models.</li>
</ol>
The session covered Microsoft's journey starting with building a robust job architecture mapped to critical skills. The next focus is prioritizing important capabilities aligned with business strategy and organizing granular skills into hierarchies. Major workstreams include unlocking workforce skills data, building a skills ontology, enabling skills-based talent cycles, and change management.
Srivastava emphasized there are no perfect answers, as companies need to experiment based on their unique challenges. The presentation shared valuable insights into taking a comprehensive, integrated approach to skills strategy.

Skills Need a Comprehensive Strategy | How to Start

dirk.tussing

shweta.srivastava

jesse.james

anton.maletich

Korn Ferry

Alter Domus

Session Focus: Panel of Talent leaders discussing key areas to focus on for successful integration of skills-based talent practices.
Developing a comprehensive, sustainable skills strategy aligned with business objectives is a critical but complex undertaking for organizations. In this insightful panel discussion, talent leaders shared their experiences and perspectives on key focus areas for successfully integrating skills-based talent practices.
One of the biggest challenges highlighted was finding the right level of granularity when mapping skills. As Anton Maletich pointed out, "The challenge is not only what's the appropriate level of detail to ensure people are thinking about this consistently and that it covers what people would expect to see and then the other piece is if we go to that level of detail are we going to be able to address that right?"
The panelists reinforced three key takeaways for participants:

<ol class="list-decimal pl-8 space-y-2">
 	<li class="whitespace-normal">Align skills development to critical business goals and priorities first, rather than developing skills programs in a vacuum.</li>
 	<li class="whitespace-normal">Start small by focusing on mapping skills for priority roles/areas, get experience, then evolve and scale the skills strategy over time. Don't try to boil the ocean initially.</li>
 	<li class="whitespace-normal">Use skills mapping to identify opportunities for enhanced career mobility by connecting people across roles that require similar skill sets.</li>
</ol>
The session emphasized that a comprehensive skills strategy is an evolutionary journey, not a one-time exercise. Organizations need to be flexible and iterative in their approach, continuously adapting their skills frameworks as business needs change over time. Starting with high-priority roles and aligning to overarching business strategy can help make this complex undertaking more manageable and impactful.

Skills Need a Comprehensive Strategy | Where you can focus first and why?

talent mobility

jean.ryan

tomas.ramirez

teresa.henderson

talent agility

ellen.foley

Executive Learning Exchange (ELE)

Session Focus: Where is Your Worknet? Skillset, Mindset, Toolset, The Next Rules of Work with Gary Bolles

 It’s no longer about best practices; the world benefits from NEXT Practices.

<img class="alignnone wp-image-37652 lazyautosizes ls-is-cached lazyloaded" src="https://www.learningexecutive.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Gary-A.-Bolles.jpeg" sizes="779px" srcset="https://www.learningexecutive.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Gary-A.-Bolles.jpeg 200w, https://www.learningexecutive.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Gary-A.-Bolles-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://www.learningexecutive.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Gary-A.-Bolles-60x60.jpeg 60w, https://www.learningexecutive.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Gary-A.-Bolles-141x141.jpeg 141w" alt="Gary A. Bolles" width="35" height="35" data-src="https://www.learningexecutive.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Gary-A.-Bolles.jpeg" data-srcset="https://www.learningexecutive.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Gary-A.-Bolles.jpeg 200w, https://www.learningexecutive.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Gary-A.-Bolles-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://www.learningexecutive.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Gary-A.-Bolles-60x60.jpeg 60w, https://www.learningexecutive.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Gary-A.-Bolles-141x141.jpeg 141w" data-sizes="auto" />  A conversation and Q&amp;A with Gary Bolles, who spent the last year meeting with leaders and organizations across the globe discussing the findings in his book, <a href="https://www.learningexecutive.com/book/next-rules-of-work/?author=gary-bolles">The Next Rules of Work</a>. During his round-the-globe trip, much of it in person, Gary started designing “The Next Rules of Work Plus.” That is what happens when the feedback and questions you receive along the way build upon your body of work.

This session will kick off with a firestarter talk that includes what he learned from real-life applications of his model, followed by a few questions, and then the gates are open to your questions. Gary will be available for 30 minutes or more to your questions.

💥 Watch <a href="https://www.learningexecutive.com/moments/internal-talent-marketplaces-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-skills-based-enterprise/">Internal Talent Marketplaces are the Tip of the Iceberg</a>. “To move to a skill-based enterprise, you need to rewrite all the rules of an organization”–Ravin Jesuthasan. 

<img class="aligncenter wp-image-37731" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Next-Rules-of-Work-Gary-Bolles.jpg" alt="Next Rules of Work - Gary Bolles" width="483" height="276" />

&nbsp;

Gary discovered:

✅ Multiple case studies of organizations and municipalities have applied some new rules. He will share a few.

✅ Followers of the “Next Rules” embrace a different mindset. Individual workers contribute creative solutions to complex problems and pursue their responsibilities.

✅ Employees no longer focus only on completing predictable assignments. Modern employees mix and match the stability of a day job, the uncertainty of gig work, and the gamble of launching a start-up.

✅ Managers no longer act as the center of all workplace knowledge. Instead, they’re guides (coaches) who help workers achieve their goals.

✅ Frontline employees act as co-equal teammates – partners in a fluid and flexible business environment.

&nbsp;

About the Author:
Gary A. Bolles, chair of the future of work at Singularity University and a partner at Charette LLC, a San Francisco consulting firm, co-founded eParachute.com – inspired by his father’s best-selling classic, <a href="https://www.learningexecutive.com/book/what-color-is-your-parachute-2022-your-guide-to-a-lifetime-of-meaningful-work-and-career-success/?author=gary-bolles">What Color Is Your Parachute</a>?

If you are looking for skills-based conversation starter tools for frontline managers, the “Flower Exercise” is a popular tool from Gary’s father’s book. <a href="https://content.randomhouse.com/assets/9781607743644/pdfs/Untitled%20Extract%20Pages.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to download as a PDF</a> excerpt from “What Color Is Your Parachute? 2014” by Richard N. Bolles.

<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37732" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Flower-Exercise-What-Color-is-Your-Parachute.jpg" alt="Flower Exercise - What Color is Your Parachute" width="596" height="703" />

&nbsp;

Skills Need a Comprehensive Strategy | Integrating Talent Practices with Gary Bolles

brian.watkins

kery.mortenson

sara.lorenzo

marti.konstant

mary.zolna

gary.bolles

bryan.burkhalter

skillset

flex

toolset

Worknet

Session Focus: Creating a skills-based future by integrating talent Practices


As the business environment continues to evolve and change, it is increasingly important for organizations to have a workforce with the right skills to meet future demands. In this session, a panel of talent leaders will share their insights on how organizations can create a more skills-based future by integrating talent practices. As a roundtable will plan to cover questions such as:
<ol>
 	<li>How do you envisage managing "future skills" within your strategy?</li>
 	<li>How do you develop skills within your organization?</li>
 	<li>How important is skill measurement to your strategy right now?</li>
 	<li>What comes first for you, Skills you have in your organization OR using Skills to get work done?</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;

<img class="aligncenter wp-image-37665" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Deloitte-SKILLS-HUB-New-model-for-work-and-workforce.png" alt="SKILLS HUB - New model for work and workforce" width="479" height="436" />

This roundtable discussion allows the panelists and participants to share their experiences and best practices for anticipating future skills needs, delivering skill development opportunities, tracking and promoting employee progress, and integrating technology to support skills development. Attendees will gain valuable insights into effectively creating a more skills-based future within their organizations.

&nbsp;

ELE produces this – Future of Work Learning Circle.

single-event

Team Leaders

Learning Circles

online event

Digital

Session Focus: Tips for starting and integrating skills-based talent practices


Integrating skills-based talent practices is essential for organizations to stay competitive in today's rapidly changing business landscape. In this session, we will have a robust, interactive discussion with HR leaders on how to start building and integrating skills-based talent practices.

<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-37690" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Deloitte-Accelerating-transition-FROM-TO-FROM-JOBS-TO-SKILLS-1024x484.jpg" alt=" Accelerating transition FROM-TO -- FROM JOBS TO SKILLS" width="1024" height="484" />

&nbsp;

Let's address important aspects such as:
<ol>
 	<li>What are the initial steps organizations should take to start building and integrating skills-based talent practices?</li>
 	<li>How can organizations assess their current skills gap and identify areas for improvement?</li>
 	<li>How can organizations ensure buy-in and engagement from employees in the skills development process?</li>
 	<li>What common challenges do organizations face when building and integrating skills-based talent practices, and how can they be overcome?</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;

This session is an opportunity for talent leaders to share their experiences and best practices for starting and building a successful skills-based talent strategy.

&nbsp;

<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37691" src="https://www.learningexecutive.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/BEFRIEND-THE-MACHINES-WISE2018.jpg" alt="Future of Learning is Here - Befriend the Machines" width="891" height="529" />

&nbsp;

ELE produces this – Future of Work Learning Circle.

Session Focus: Panel of Talent leaders discussing key areas to focus on for successful integration of skills-based talent practices.

Integrating skills-based talent practices is essential for organizations to stay competitive in today's rapidly changing business landscape.

<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-37733" src="https://www.learningexecutive.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/KornFerry-SuccessProfiles-Key-Skills-of-the-Future-1024x576.png" alt="SuccessProfiles - Key Skills of the Future" width="1024" height="576" />

In this session, we will hear from a panel of talent leaders who will share their insights on where organizations should focus first when implementing a skills-based talent strategy. We will address questions such as:
<ol>
 	<li>How do you ensure that the skills development strategy aligns with the business goals and objectives?</li>
 	<li>Can you describe the process for identifying the skills that are most critical for success within the organization?</li>
 	<li>How do you foster a culture of continuous learning and skill development within the organization?</li>
 	<li>How do you involve and engage employees in the skill development process to ensure buy-in and ownership?</li>
</ol>
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-37630" src="https://www.learningexecutive.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/CoBots-Collaborate-with-Humans-Konstant-Change.png" alt="CoBots - Collaborate with Humans " width="248" height="256" />

The panelists and participants will share their experiences and best practices for aligning skills development with business goals, identifying critical skills, fostering a culture of continuous learning, and engaging employees in the skill development process. Participants will gain valuable insights into effectively integrating skills-based talent practices within their organizations.

💥 Skills Are the New Currency

<a href="https://media.ele.llc/2022/LD-skills_Christopher-Lind_mm03.mp4"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-37641" src="https://www.learningexecutive.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ELE-Moment-Skill-Conversations-with-Business-Leaders-are-Important.png" alt="Skill Conversations with Business Leaders are Important" width="425" height="287" data-wp-editing="1" /></a>
<blockquote>SKILLS DEFINED
We broadly define “skills” to encompass “hard” or technical skills (such as coding, data analysis, and accounting); human capabilities or human skills (such as critical thinking and emotional intelligence); and potential (including latent qualities, abilities, or adjacent skills that may be developed and lead to future success)   Source: Deloitte Insights</blockquote>
&nbsp;

ELE produces this – Future of Work Learning Circle.

kacie.walters

wendy.greeson

Session Focus: Where is Your Worknet? Skillset, Mindset, Toolset, The Next Rules of Work with Gary Bolles

 It's no longer about best practices; the world benefits from NEXT Practices.

<img class="alignnone wp-image-37652" src="https://www.learningexecutive.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Gary-A.-Bolles.jpeg" alt="Gary A. Bolles" width="35" height="35" />  A conversation and Q&amp;A with Gary Bolles, who spent the last year meeting with leaders and organizations across the globe discussing the findings in his book, <a href="https://www.learningexecutive.com/book/next-rules-of-work/?author=gary-bolles">The Next Rules of Work</a>. During his round-the-globe trip, much of it in person, Gary started designing "The Next Rules of Work Plus." That is what happens when the feedback and questions you receive along the way build upon your body of work.

This session will kick off with a firestarter talk that includes what he learned from real-life applications of his model, followed by a few questions, and then the gates are open to your questions. Gary will be available for 30 minutes or more to your questions.

💥 Watch <a href="/moments/internal-talent-marketplaces-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-skills-based-enterprise/">Internal Talent Marketplaces are the Tip of the Iceberg</a>. "To move to a skill-based enterprise, you need to rewrite all the rules of an organization"--Ravin Jesuthasan. 

&nbsp;

<img class="aligncenter wp-image-37731" src="https://www.learningexecutive.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Next-Rules-of-Work-Gary-Bolles.jpg" alt="Next Rules of Work - Gary Bolles" width="400" height="229" />

&nbsp;

Gary discovered:

✅ Multiple case studies of organizations and municipalities have applied some new rules. He will share a few.

✅ Followers of the “Next Rules” embrace a different mindset. Individual workers contribute creative solutions to complex problems and pursue their responsibilities.

✅ Employees no longer focus only on completing predictable assignments. Modern employees mix and match the stability of a day job, the uncertainty of gig work, and the gamble of launching a start-up.

✅ Managers no longer act as the center of all workplace knowledge. Instead, they’re guides (coaches) who help workers achieve their goals.

✅ Frontline employees act as co-equal teammates – partners in a fluid and flexible business environment.

&nbsp;

About the Author:
Gary A. Bolles, chair of the future of work at Singularity University and a partner at Charette LLC, a San Francisco consulting firm, co-founded eParachute.com – inspired by his father’s best-selling classic, <a href="https://www.learningexecutive.com/book/what-color-is-your-parachute-2022-your-guide-to-a-lifetime-of-meaningful-work-and-career-success/?author=gary-bolles">What Color Is Your Parachute</a>?

If you are looking for skills-based conversation starter tools for frontline managers, the "Flower Exercise" is a popular tool from Gary's father's book. <a href="https://content.randomhouse.com/assets/9781607743644/pdfs/Untitled%20Extract%20Pages.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to download as a PDF</a> excerpt from "What Color Is Your Parachute? 2014" by Richard N. Bolles.

<a href="https://content.randomhouse.com/assets/9781607743644/pdfs/Untitled%20Extract%20Pages.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-37732" src="https://www.learningexecutive.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Flower-Exercise-What-Color-is-Your-Parachute.jpg" alt="Flower Exercise - What Color is Your Parachute" width="344" height="406" /></a>

&nbsp;

ELE produces this – Future of Work Learning Circle.

Fireside Chat: What is the Key to Creating the Future of Learning?

Case study: <a href="https://www.learningexecutive.com/book/work-without-jobs-how-to-reboot-your-organizations-work-operating-system/?author=jay-jamrog">Work Without Jobs</a> by Ravin Jesuthasan argues in the future, work won't be merely transactional; it will be social.
<a href="https://www.learningexecutive.com/book/work-without-jobs-how-to-reboot-your-organizations-work-operating-system/?author=jay-jamrog"><img class="aligncenter" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41ZeRY5rbNL._SX336_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" alt="Work Without Jobs (Jesuthasan)" width="338" height="499" /></a>
Everyone wants to know the answer to this question.

"What skills will matter to you and your organization in the future?"

The answer to this question depends on your perspective, where you work in the organization, and your area of expertise.

If you don't solve this riddle with agility, curiosity, and smart technology capabilities, your organization will risk irrelevance or fade from existence.

Organizations spend billions of dollars yearly on reskilling and upskilling for their employees to ensure corporate relevance and cultivate a competitive edge in a time of accelerated change. In turn, they want to serve their customers and partners with products, offerings, and skills that create value in revenues and loyal relationships.

Solving the future skills puzzle requires a more practical approach than crystal ball gazing. The solution must transform the chaos of disparate spreadsheets, talent erosion, and skills gaps into smart skills planning.

ELE produces this – Future of Work Learning Circle.

Work Without Jobs: The Future of Learning

jay.jamrog

teresa.oliszewicz

ravin.jesuthasan

Organizations, managers, and workers still have an Industrial Era mindset towards work. How can leaders guide individuals and organizations to solve the increasingly complex work challenges of tomorrow?

As traditional jobs give way to new work roles and software and robots perform the repetitive tasks formerly done by humans, the work of today is no longer guaranteed to be here tomorrow. The Next Rules of Work helps leaders understand why traditional notions about work inhibit the organization's ability to address new problems and how they can successfully equip their organizations to manage constant change. By first developing a new mindset to help themselves and their teams become more agile, leaders can then co-create the organization's "next mindset" by answering five key questions that help them establish constantly adaptive strategies. Finally, leaders develop agile learning practices to ensure that workers will continually have the skillsets and toolsets they need to solve organizational problems today.

By redefining the fundamental nature of work, teams and the organization, The Next Rules of Work goes beyond offering advice and predictions and provides organizational leaders with a guide to create truly agile organizations that can respond to perpetual change.

The Next Rules of Work: The Mindset, Skillset and Toolset to Lead Your Organization through Uncertainty

Engagement &amp; Culture

newton.moore

engagement

corinne@innovatingresults.com

flow of work

agile mindset

organizational agility

evolving workplace

world of work

problem solving

flex skills

know skills

self skills

SKILLS ONTOLOGY: Simplify Skills Language and Identify Overlap/Gaps

Next Rules of Work: Constantly-Changing Work Market Landscape

Integrating Talent Practices: Skills and Problems

AI is the Next Forefront for Human Skills

Toolset EQUALS Techniques and Technologies.

Next Rules of Work Skillset: Problem-solver, Adaptive, Creative, Empathy

SKILLSET requires a comprehensive ecosystem strategy

Mindset model: GEMS - Growth, Effectiveness, Membership and Synchrony

TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE: Mindset, Skillset and Toolset

WORKNET: the next model of the organization

The next rules of work: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How

Integrating Talent Practices: Skills, Tasks, Problems