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Figure out if ELE is for you. Straight answers on what ELE is, who it’s built for, and how contributing members actually work together. Still have a question? Contact us.

LAK Group

HumanSide

<blockquote class="ml-2 border-l-4 border-border-300/10 pl-4 text-text-300">
"One of the forerunners of these models is having the exact same problems as my tiny organization of four." — <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/iliana-alvarado" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Iliana Alvarado</a>, HumanSide
</blockquote>

The business problem no one wants to say out loud
Michael Grubich works with hundreds of organizations worldwide. What he keeps hearing isn't a technology problem — it's a leadership problem. Organizations have tools. They don't have people who can translate those tools into business value.
Most have 7 or 8 AI tools being paid for independently across teams, no shared language, and no clear definition of what "AI-ready" even means. Mike brought that pressure into the room:

<blockquote class="ml-2 border-l-4 border-border-300/10 pl-4 text-text-300">
"It's not AI adoption — it's how do we get to AI evangelism? Who can translate AI into business value?" — <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/michael-grubich" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Grubich</a>, LAK Group
</blockquote>
That's the internal client's real ask. Not "use AI more." But who in your organization can connect AI capability to business outcomes — and do you know how to find, develop, and deploy them?
.
<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-44953" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/AI-Driven-Leaders-are-Becoming-a-Composer-and-a-Conductor-A.jpg" alt="As an AI-driven leader you are becoming a composer of strategy and a conductor of teams and technology." width="1600" height="370" />
<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-45010" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/AI-Driven-Leaders.jpg" alt="ELE Design Charrette: diverse leadership team intensely focused on peer-exchange and live-mapping organizational 'AI-Ready Execution' strategy using the 'Strategy &amp; Change' worksheet framework to 'Stop Talking. Start Building AI-Driven Leaders.'" width="1024" height="572" />

Who was in the room: <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/michael-grubich" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Grubich</a> (President &amp; CEO, LAK Group), serving as the Internal Client; <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/iliana-alvarado" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Iliana Alvarado</a> (Managing Partner, HumanSide), as the AI Strategist — alongside <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/matt-sernaker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matt Sernaker</a> (Executive Producer), <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/david-scherer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">David Scherer</a> (Producer), and facilitator <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/dirk-tussing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dirk Tussing</a> (CEO &amp; President, ELE).
The discussion featured active contributions from Nicole DeFalco (CEO, Upsurge Advisors), Deepa Kartha (CEO, Journyz), Brady Bair (CNA Insurance), and Sandra Garcia (UL Solutions). These leaders were joined by a peer group of senior HR, Talent, and L&amp;D executives representing over 20 global and local organizations across healthcare, financial services, insurance, and professional consulting.


<hr class="border-border-200 border-t-0.5 my-3 mx-1.5" />
The systems failure hiding in plain sight
Mike's framing set the stakes: three things are breaking simultaneously. Organizations can't identify who has AI potential internally. They don't know how to develop those people once found. And middle managers — 70–80% of most leadership populations — are the bottleneck where AI strategy stalls.
Sandra Garcia (UL Solutions) sharpened it further: middle managers can't explain the why of AI to their teams because no one gave it to them first. The anxiety travels down because the clarity never did.
That's not a training gap. That's a strategy gap wearing a training costume.


<hr class="border-border-200 border-t-0.5 my-3 mx-1.5" />
From programs to readiness — the shift is already happening
Mike's own firm is living this data: traditional leadership development requests dropped 3–4x year over year. Coaching requests tripled in Q1 alone.
People aren't abandoning learning. They're abandoning learning that isn't immediately applicable. The design question has changed: not "what program do we build?" but "what does this person need to do — and when?"


<hr class="border-border-200 border-t-0.5 my-3 mx-1.5" />
Agility over durability: Iliana's reframe for L&amp;D
Where Mike named the problem, Iliana Alvarado brought the possibility lens. Her message: the entire design paradigm needs to shift — starting with why organizations are communicating the AI imperative wrong.

<blockquote class="ml-2 border-l-4 border-border-300/10 pl-4 text-text-300">
"The why is not because we want higher productivity — that doesn't rally employees." — <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/iliana-alvarado" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Iliana Alvarado</a>, HumanSide (AI Strategist)
</blockquote>
The peer group pushed the design implications further. If the why is broken, so is everything built on top of it — including content that assumes durability when the moment demands agility.

<blockquote class="ml-2 border-l-4 border-border-300/10 pl-4 text-text-300">
"Sage on the stage has to go away… the human as guide on the side — not only for other humans, but also for AI." — <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/nicole-defalco" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nicole DeFalco</a>, Upsurge Advisors
</blockquote>
The human orchestrates. They don't deliver content. That's the identity shift Iliana's AI Strategist lens kept returning to — and it points directly to where the real leverage is.


<hr class="border-border-200 border-t-0.5 my-3 mx-1.5" />
The middle manager is the inflection point — develop them first
That identity shift matters most in the middle. The C-suite isn't where AI transformation stalls — it's in the 70–80% of your leadership population sitting in middle and frontline management.
Start middle-out, not top-down. Develop managers first so they can hold space for real dialogue about how work is shifting locally. If they can't articulate the why of AI to their own teams, no enterprise strategy compensates.
The manager is the message.


<hr class="border-border-200 border-t-0.5 my-3 mx-1.5" />
Integration beats access: what the coaching data actually shows
When AI coaching is left to individuals, about 10% use it. When a human coach integrates it into their process, that jumps to 75%.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/20260410_Charrette_AIExecution-Gap_Visual.jpg" alt="" width="832" height="454" />
The AI Execution Gap: From fragmented adoption to strategic integration.
(Credit: Created with Google Gemini Banana Nano)
AI tools don't drive behavior change independently. They need a human in the loop — not to supervise, but to model and embed. Access isn't the problem. Integration is.


<hr class="border-border-200 border-t-0.5 my-3 mx-1.5" />
What to try next
1. Name your "AI Evangelists" — deliberately. Map your leadership population against one question: who can translate AI capability into a business outcome in their context? Early signal: can they articulate the why of AI to their team in a way that lands?
2. Build shared AI language before building more programs. If your C-suite, IT, HR, and frontline managers define "AI" four different ways, no strategy holds. Start with 10 cross-functionally agreed terms. Early signal: fewer alignment meetings needed to reach a decision.
3. Run one coaching pilot with AI integrated — not added. Assign a coach who builds AI into existing workflow. Measure engagement at 30 days. The 10%-to-75% gap isn't magic — it's what happens when AI becomes part of a trusted relationship rather than another platform to log into.


<hr class="border-border-200 border-t-0.5 my-3 mx-1.5" />
The question worth sitting with: What percentage of your current leadership development investment is explicitly designed to build AI capabilities your leaders need to be job-ready in the next 12 months — and do you actually know that number?


<hr class="border-border-200 border-t-0.5 my-3 mx-1.5" />
If any of these insights resonate — and you've got a top-of-mind talent business problem you'd like the ELE community to work on — send it our way. Members can submit their business challenge here: <a class="underline underline underline-offset-2 decoration-1 decoration-current/40 hover:decoration-current focus:decoration-current" href="https://www.ele.llc/faqs/share-top-of-mind-business-challenges">Submit My Business Challenge Now</a>

Design Charrette | Stop Talking. Start Building AI Leaders

Digital &amp; AI

Leadership

dirk.tussing

michael.grubich

lorna.malloy

adrienne.guerrero

Learning Agility

marty.murrillo

sandra.garcia

brady.bair

matt.sernaker

david.scherer

rachel.kaberon

maggie.lowenberg

susan.c.guest

nicole.defalco

talent identification

deepa.kartha

mike.hoyt

2Q2026

manager enablement

AI Workforce Transformation

peer-powered learning

iliana.alvarado

AI fluency

AI-ready leaders

AI evangelism

middle manager development

AI adoption strategy

leadership capability building

AI coaching integration

organizational change management

shared AI vocabulary

ELE Design Charrette

Abbott

For senior HR and L&amp;D leaders, the greatest challenge isn't implementing change, but managing the cumulative human exhaustion from constant change. As Jennifer Rainey, IT Change Management Leader at Abbott, emphasized, "Change is no longer an event. It's the environment we live in."

This session delivered a powerful, practical case study on how Abbott IT successfully navigated large-scale transformations by embedding human-centered methodologies—shifting focus from process compliance to people adoption and empowerment.
<h3>Key Takeaways for Talent and L&amp;D Leaders:</h3>
<ul>
 	<li>The Power of Behavioral Economics: Attendees learned how to leverage behavioral science to identify the specific human barriers to adoption (e.g., status quo bias, loss aversion) and design targeted interventions that move people from passive resistance to active acceptance.</li>
 	<li>The Three Pillars of Change Success: The session detailed Abbott's successful framework for managing concurrent change waves, focusing on:
<ol start="1">
 	<li>Sponsorship Alignment: Ensuring senior leaders don't just approve change but actively model the new behaviors.</li>
 	<li>Stakeholder Empathy: Using deep listening and feedback loops to tailor communications and training, rather than delivering generic mandates.</li>
 	<li>Adoption Measurement: Moving beyond system completion rates to measure the quality of skill application and the true adoption of new ways of working.</li>
</ol>
</li>
 	<li>Building the Muscle of Adaptability: The core insight was that the goal is not just to survive the current change, but to build organizational adaptability as a core, measurable capability—preparing the workforce to innovate and adapt continuously.</li>
</ul>
This post-session review provides the blueprint for leaders to replace generic change models with a human-centric approach that secures adoption, reduces employee burnout, and ensures strategic IT investments deliver on their business value.

Innovate and Adapt | A Human-Centered Approach to Managing and Leading Change in Abbott IT

future of work

leadership

Future of Work

Change Management

leadership development

talent development

Talent Strategy

psychological safety

reskilling

organizational change

emmployee engagement

CHIE2025

jennifer.rainey

future skills

adaptability

HR leadership

Change Readiness

hybrid work

adaptive leadership

innovation culture

Coaching Culture

human-centered design

Innovate and Adapt

Leading Change

Navigating Change

wellbeing at work

empathy mapping

ELE Group, LLC

The workforce is changing fast—with an estimated 78 million new jobs expected globally by 2030, widening skill gaps, and the rise of AI as a “cognitive industrial revolution.” In this environment, adaptability isn’t optional; it’s the core of how we work.

<div class="group/conversation-turn relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn">
<div class="flex-col gap-1 md:gap-3">
<div class="flex max-w-full flex-col flex-grow">
<div class="min-h- text-message flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 whitespace-normal break-words :mt-5" dir="auto" data-message-author-role="assistant" data-message-id="06167a8a-0cf7-4e4b-ac90-418662019320">
<div class="flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-">
<div class="markdown prose w-full break-words dark:prose-invert light">
This video discussion provided a powerful reminder: in a world accelerating with AI, change, and complexity, adaptability starts—and ends—with people.

<blockquote data-start="738" data-end="873">
“Even in the age of AI, we’re human beings at heart—and our work must always be human-focused.” — <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/jennifer-rainey" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jennifer Rainey</a>, Abbott
</blockquote>
Jennifer challenged us to rethink empathy not as sentiment, but as a strategic tool for leading transformation. When teams feel seen and supported, agility follows naturally.
From redefining inclusion to designing AI-enabled learning that stays human-centered, participants explored how connection and adaptability go hand in hand. This conversation offered practical, human-centered strategies for building future-ready talent systems—where empathy fuels innovation, belonging drives performance, and AI enhances (not replaces) human judgment.


<hr data-start="1435" data-end="1438" />

<h3 data-start="1440" data-end="1462">🔑 Key Takeaways</h3>
<ul data-start="1463" data-end="2013">
 	<li data-start="1463" data-end="1571">
Empathy drives performance. It’s the foundation for psychological safety, inclusion, and innovation.
</li>
 	<li data-start="1572" data-end="1683">
AI should amplify, not replace. Use it to personalize learning, surface insights, and scale capability.
</li>
 	<li data-start="1684" data-end="1793">
Connection is a KPI. Loneliness and isolation are now measurable business risks in hybrid workplaces.
</li>
 	<li data-start="1794" data-end="1894">
Agility defines success. Build just-in-time learning labs and iterate like product teams do.
</li>
 	<li data-start="1895" data-end="2013">
Inclusion must evolve. Extend belonging to neurodivergent employees, caregivers, and all who work differently.
</li>
 	<li style="text-align: left;">Transforming culture starts with being human. <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/azizeh-constantinescu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Azizeh Elias Constantinescu</a> expands on this in her latest book, which shows how servant leadership and empathy can heal toxic cultures and help people—and performance—flourish.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Becoming-a-Human-Organization-book.jpg" alt="" /></li>
</ul>
<a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/bookshelf/becoming-a-human-organization-transforming-work-touching-lives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Becoming a Human Organization: Transforming Work, Touching Lives</a>


<hr data-start="2015" data-end="2018" />

<h3 data-start="2020" data-end="2046">🚀 Practical Actions</h3>
<ul data-start="2047" data-end="2589">
 	<li data-start="2047" data-end="2158">
Integrate empathy mapping into change and learning design to see programs through your employees’ eyes.
</li>
 	<li data-start="2159" data-end="2250">
Equip managers as connection multipliers who create psychological safety and trust.
</li>
 	<li data-start="2251" data-end="2360">
Use AI tools like Copilot or NotebookLM to automate administrative tasks and personalize development.
</li>
 	<li data-start="2361" data-end="2470">
Redesign “return-to-office” strategies around purposeful moments that matter, not attendance metrics.
</li>
 	<li data-start="2471" data-end="2589">
Launch bite-sized learning labs to close emerging skills gaps quickly and keep capability building continuous.
</li>
</ul>

<hr data-start="2591" data-end="2594" />
In an era when technology moves faster than people can adapt, empathy becomes a competitive advantage. Jennifer’s words still resonate: empathy isn’t soft—it’s strategic.
Join the ongoing conversation in the <a href="https://www.ele.llc/idea-exchange" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ELE Idea Exchange</a> as we explore how empathy, AI, and adaptability are reshaping talent development.

</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Innovate and Adapt: Reimagining Talent Development for a Changing Workforce

azizeh.constantinescu

edward.desrosiers

diana.anderson

erin.joslin

4Q2025

cindy.pinkstaffmiller

tonja.sasser-bonds

sam.amelio

laura.ruff

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company

Session Focus: Mastering Learning Agility for the Evolving Future of Work

<blockquote>"Opportunities to develop leaders now happen in pivotal moments." -- <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/julian-malnak" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Julian Malnak</a></blockquote>
This session provided an in-depth look at Goodyear's new agile strategy for leadership development focused on "pivotal moments." The pivotal moments framework represents a major shift away from Goodyear's previous level/role-based leadership training programs. Instead, it creates personalized learning journeys curated around critical pivotal moments that leaders face, such as becoming a manager, leading through change, or navigating a business transformation.

<img class="aligncenter wp-image-41184" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/event-pic-waves-of-change-agility-goodyear-a-2-1024x564.jpg" alt="" width="628" height="346" />
Three key takeaways from this innovative approach are:

<ol class="-mt-1 list-decimal space-y-2 pl-8">
 	<li class="whitespace-normal break-words">Pivotal moments are critical transitions for leaders: These are significant situations or events that can profoundly affect business outcomes, employee engagement, and overall wellbeing. Examples include becoming a leader of others, guiding a team through change, or stepping up as a leader of leaders.</li>
 	<li class="whitespace-normal break-words">An always-on, needs-driven, democratized approach: This method is continuously available, tailored to the individual needs of each leader, and accessible to everyone regardless of their level or role. This represents a significant shift towards agility in leadership development.</li>
 	<li class="whitespace-normal break-words">Significant implications of adopting agile pivotal moments: Embracing this approach demands that leaders become more self-driven, redefines success metrics beyond just completions and attendance, enables operation at a larger scale, encourages the normalization of new behaviors, and incorporates advanced technologies like AI.</li>
</ol>
By focusing on pivotal moments versus pre-scripted progression, Goodyear aims to deliver more relevant, agile leadership development that empowers leaders to choose their own paths and drive their growth during critical career situations.

Navigating the Waves of Change: Learning Agility Use Case with Goodyear

engagement &amp; culture

Strategy

richard.busby

innovation

julian.malnak

learning &amp; development

ana.bedard

organizational development

sam.herring

sandra.lindner

workplace transformation

organizational skills

HR strategies

scalable culture

workplace innovation

Designing Cohort Learning to Scale

debbie.murphy

Organizational Growth

Employee Resilience

Adaptability Skillsagile mindset

Session Focus: Mastering Learning Agility focusing on Pivotal Moments 
In today's rapidly changing work environment, shaped by continuous technological innovation and shifting market dynamics, the ability to adapt through learning, unlearning, and relearning is not just an advantage—it's a necessity.
<blockquote>Pivotal Moments for Leadership Development: This term suggests specific, often critical, turning points that can define or significantly change the trajectory of a leader's career or the direction of an organization. These are moments of high stakes and high impact, where the decisions and actions taken can lead to considerable success or failure. The focus here is on the transformative potential of these instances, making it particularly relevant for discussions about leadership growth, crisis management, or major strategic shifts.</blockquote>
"Navigating Pivotal Moments" shares a use case in Goodyear Tire found success in unpacking the essential skill of Learning Agility. This session offers a deep dive into the facets of Learning Agility—mental, people, change, and results agility—and explores their crucial role in navigating decisive moments in personal and organizational development.
<img class="alignnone wp-image-41145 size-full" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/event-pic-waves-of-change-agility-v2.1.png" alt="" width="1200" height="661" />
&nbsp;

Participants will discover actionable strategies to enhance Learning Agility within themselves and their teams, empowering them to drive innovation, adapt swiftly, and maintain high performance amidst uncertainty. The discussion will feature compelling real-world examples and case studies, demonstrating how Learning Agility has effectively guided leaders and organizations through critical turning points and enabled them to capitalize on opportunities across various industries.

&nbsp;

ELE produces this Learning Circle: Reskilling Talent Development.

ELE's <a title="ELE's Idea Exchange" href="/idea-exchange/">Idea Exchange</a>: Collaborate online with your peers.

single-event

Your Teams

Learning Circles

Complimentary

online event

complimentary event

agile mindset

Adaptability Skills

pivotal moments

GP Strategies

In today's rapidly evolving workplace, building an internal talent marketplace that centers on skills, rather than traditional job roles, is becoming a critical strategy for organizations. Employees have diverse needs. Skills marketplaces require continual feedback and adaptation. Let's discover the future of internal talent management in this session.

We'll explore the intersection of skills and change management, offering valuable insights and actionable tips. Key points include:
<ul>
 	<li>Skills-Centric Marketplace: Shift from job roles to skills for enhanced transparency, employee agency, and career mobility.</li>
 	<li>Bridging Competency and Skills: Connect competency models and skills frameworks to measurable work results, aligning HR and L&amp;D.</li>
 	<li>AI's Influence: Rethink skills in the AI era, as AI reshapes job roles, emphasizing EQ and DQ (emotional and decency intelligence).</li>
 	<li>AI-Human Collaboration: Harness AI to boost skills and enhance employee performance.</li>
 	<li>Addressing Workplace Challenges: Solve issues like job satisfaction, role flexibility, and career growth through skills-focused strategies.</li>
 	<li>Change Management: Implement personalized, iterative change management in your skills framework.</li>
 	<li>Learner Education: Educate employees about the value of skills frameworks.</li>
 	<li>Business Involvement: Engage the business in defining work outputs and required skills.</li>
</ul>
In summary, a skills-based talent marketplace, supported by a flexible framework, drives transparency, mobility, and adaptability. Effective change management is key. Key takeaways:
<ol>
 	<li>Linking Skills to Results: Align skills with concrete work outputs.</li>
 	<li>Adapting Skills in an AI World: Redefine skills for the AI era.</li>
 	<li>Change Management Focus: Prioritize personalized change management.</li>
</ol>

Tips for Building a Skills-Based Internal Talent Marketplace: Explore Intersection of skills and change management

Integrated Talent Management

talent management

matt.donovan

critical thinking

skillsforthefuture

future of learning

internal talent marketplace

CHIE2023

employee empowerment

skills marketplace

internal talent development

HR Strategy

workforce adaptability

Mercer

Fireside Chat: What is the Key to Creating the Future of Learning? with Ravin Jesuthasan, co-author of Work Without Jobs, and Shweta Srivastava.

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 during 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.

Work Without Jobs Requires Perpetual Reinvention: Skills-First Talent Practices and Workplace Agility

evidence-based research

shweta.srivastava

organizational readiness

upskilling

ravin.jesuthasan

workplace agility

Skills-First Talent Practices

organizational transformation

Zurich North America

CNA Insurance

Session Focus: Community-source tips for starting from scratch to create a skills database.

As learning leaders, we often find ourselves excited about initiatives like creating skills databases, but do the CEO and other business leaders truly understand the "why" behind it? In this insightful session, a panel of experts shared tips on how to approach this from the ground up while keeping the core business objectives in mind.

Key Takeaways:
1. Clearly define the "why" - link it to core business objectives beyond just HR/talent goals to get leadership buy-in.
2. Focus on the employee experience and career journey to drive engagement with the skills initiative.
3. Take an iterative approach, celebrate small wins, and get broad input - don't aim for perfection from day one.

A poignant quote that resonated: "While for us as HR practitioners and professionals this is really exciting and we get it and we know why it makes sense but does the CEO know, do they care just of marketing or sales like so it is the why are we doing this not just for HR but help the organization like does everyone get it is everyone on board with like the why and the impacts?"

Join us as we dive deep into practical tips shared by leaders who have been through this journey, from establishing a clear purpose aligned with business priorities to managing change effectively. Whether you're just starting out or looking to refine your approach, this session offers valuable insights to create a skills database that truly moves the needle for your organization.

Tips for Starting from Scratch | Creating Skills Databases

talent mobility

jean.ryan

career development

career path

geovanny.andino

strategic alignment

employee engagement

business

skills​

stateofskills

career mobility

future-skill

maryann.kennedy

reskill

skill development

paula.y..spears

mary.zolna

skills database

personalization of skills

megan.bickle

skills data

gordon.ritchie

Session Focus: GE Digital case study upskilling HR to make progress with a capability-based talent strategy.

In this insightful session, Megan Bickle, former leader of culture, engagement, and employee listening at companies like Western Digital, Dropbox, and GE Digital, shared GE Digital's pioneering journey to build an integrated capabilities framework from 2013-2017.
The key takeaways were:
1) Build a capability/skills framework aligned to your talent processes like hiring, promotions, learning etc. to enable consistency and data-driven decisions.
2) Get buy-in and involvement from influential leaders and subject matter experts - don't make it just an HR initiative. Constantly sell the value. 
3) Integrate the framework into your culture and employee/manager conversations. Provide a shared skills language.
As Megan stated: "It was really through that lens of how are we growing Talent, how is Talent, what are the capabilities that people are taking with them when they leave new talent that we're bringing in, are they a good fit for their role and how do we grow them"

GE Digital's pioneering work predated much of the modern skills cloud technology. Despite being very labor-intensive upfront, their integrated approach transformed how they hired, developed, promoted, and planned talent needs. It enabled better coaching through a shared language around capabilities.

However, new leadership's lack of buy-in led to its dismantling by 2021 as GE split into three companies. This case study highlights the potential impact but also the challenges of undertaking an integrated capabilities approach in today's skills-based landscape.

Integrated Capabilities Framework | GE Digital Case Study Upskilling HR

integrated talent management

prashant.Bhat

jill.mack

jesse.james

brian.richardson

katie.hoff

capabilities

Session Focus: Tips for creating a skills database with Skills Cloud (Workday)

In this insightful session, panelists shared their real-world experiences implementing skills initiatives like Workday Skills Cloud. Key takeaways included:
1) Data harmonization across different skill source systems like learning platforms and applicant tracking systems is a major challenge that should not be underestimated. Having a unified skills taxonomy/ontology is helpful for scaling skills efforts.
2) Manage expectations by starting small with pilots/proof of concepts rather than overselling an enterprise-wide skills solution upfront. Properly resourcing the skills initiative is critical for success.
3) As one panelist stated: "I think depends on your industry, some Industries have a lot of rapidly changing skills where you need a lot more flexibility. While others maybe things haven't changed as much." The flexibility vs structure required in your skills model should depend on how rapidly skills are evolving in your organization's roles.
Attendees gained valuable tips on getting a skills implementation off the ground, from defining skills and harmonizing data sources, to rightsizing expectations and resources. The panel's insights highlighted both the potential and pitfalls to be aware of when launching a skills cloud platform like Workday's offering.

Tips for Getting Started with Workday Skills Cloud

allyson.carter

anton.maletich

serena.huang

workday

skills-cloud

rigo.barragan

UL Solutions

Session Focus: A case study capacity study using lean methods to develop a skill matrix analyzing the processes used to do the actual work.


In the session "Creating a Skill Matrix | Identification of Skills Needed To Do the Work", presenter Azizeh Constantinescu shared a case study on how she conducted a capacity analysis that revealed powerful insights into mapping employee skills to the granular work tasks and processes within her organization.

The core takeaway, as quoted in the session, is that "Skills-based organization is really about unlocking skills from jobs and that happens across a number of dimensions - it's not just a talent thing, it's not just a learning thing, it is a business thing."

Through careful observation of work processes and dialogue with employees actually performing the tasks, Aiza was able to deconstruct high-level activities like "conducting product testing" into detailed step-by-step processes. For each granular task step, she mapped out the specific skills an employee would need to have mastery over.

This skills mapping exercise yielded three critical takeaways for participants:
1. Map employee skills directly to the granular tasks and processes involved in the actual work being done, not just high-level job descriptions.
2. Use this granular skills mapping to facilitate knowledge transfer between employees, identify skills gaps, inform training, and enable dynamic staffing of work based on employee skill inventories.
3. Get leaders and stakeholders aligned on consistent skill definitions and taxonomies across the organization to allow true skills transferability and mobility between roles/departments.
By taking a bottoms-up, lean approach to analyzing work at the process level, organizations can "unlock" employee skills from traditional job roles and titles. This enables much more agility in workforce deployment, skills development, and strategic capacity planning aligned to business objectives.

The session provided a compelling case study on how analyzing skills through the lens of actual work processes, rather than just job descriptions, can transform an organization into a truly skills-based operating model.

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