L&D Disrupt

Struggling to shift L&D’s perception in the business? You’re not alone!

Thankfully, Danielle Dziurun is here to help - with a proven framework for understanding current perception, shifting it, and aligning to business goals.

By the end of this episode, you’ll have the confidence and skills to improve L&D perception and impact.

Timestamps

0:00 Intro to Danielle

2:06 Understanding L&D’s perception

7:04 Next steps based on your learnings

10:21 Connecting development to core values

14:58 How we align to commercial goals

20:02 Using data effectively in L&D

23:22 Removing friction for learners

Useful links

“We don't own their time or attention. So how can we genuinely get people engaged?”

This is Greg Arthur’s mindset around learning experiences, and he’s created a process that solves the issue.

In this episode, he joins us to talk through the first part - how we build a foundation by understanding problems, stakeholders, context and more.

Timestamps

0:00 Intro to Greg

2:41 The fundamentals for solving problems

9:04 Mapping stakeholders and problems

17:52 The metrics that matter to people and the business

22:47 Finding your sub problems

26:03 Advice for small L&D teams

31:49 Where you can find Greg

How to connect

“Research tells us that extremely low numbers of employees are truly happy with their experience at work – Gartner suggests it may even be as low as 13%. 

“Unengaged employees are not productive employees, and they are unlikely to stay in your organisation for long.”

Those are the words of the LACE Partners team, who recently launched the employee experience revolution - a campaign and guide that provides five steps to successful EX.

Kat Bernardes and Cathy Acratopulo joined Gary to talk through delivering a meaningful employee experience. 

From clarity of what that is to auditing your current experiences, building an EVP, and loads more.

As part of the L&D Drop-In, Bena Saiyed walked us through her process for a Root Cause Analysis - allowing us to solve real problems and drive business impact.

There was a slight issue with Bena's sound, but hopefully you can still hear all the valuable advice!

Sign up for What The Fluff here: gethownow.com/wtf-bootcamp

Which human skills are we going to need in the next five years?

Rush into buying tech, and before you know it, you’re tied into a contract for something that doesn’t solve your problems.

It’s a tale as old as time and one that Ross Stevenson's free template can save you from!

The Founder and Chief Learning Strategist at Steal These Thoughts joins us to explain how we can make smart choices - instead of following tech trends - to solve our problems.

“A trusted advisor is a strategic business partner embedded in the business. Who understands the business and is driving value for the organisation.”

The question is, how do we become one? And unpick ourselves from the position of being an order taker?

DR. Keith Keating, author of The Trusted Learning Advisor, explains all in this episode.

We discuss why we end up in the order-taker lifecycle, why we should become trusted learning advisors and some of the key steps for getting us there, why willingness to learn and understand our audience are critical, overcoming resistance and much more.

Timestamps

0:00 Who is Keith Keating?

3:12 The order-taker cycle

7:52 The value prop of a trusted advisor

16:50 The motivation for becoming one

23:47 The role of listening and role playing

27:54 Take ownership of problems and stop saying “not my job”

32:40 How to roleplay and practice conversations

37:09 Handling resistance 

47:25 Keith’s final advice
How to connect:

Sign up for What The Fluff today: gethownow.com/wtf-bootcamp

Context is absolutely crucial to delivering L&D impact! From the self-awareness of our current capabilities to stakeholder expectations and the business’s commercial goals - it’s huge.

But how often do we reflect on our current context and feed that into our strategy? 

​The buzz around AI for L&D has never been ​higher but the conversation is surface level and dominated by gimmicky ideas.

Egle Vinauskaite takes us beyond that in this episode, diving into the challenges and practicalities of using AI for L&D. From the ethics to the context and the core principles you need to get it right.

Running order

0:00 Intro the show

1:12 Meet Egle

5:28 Why is organisational context so crucial?

12:03 Lessons from speaking to business leaders.

16:35 Why motivation and environment are key

23:11 Privacy, bias and the ethics of AI in L&D

31:46 Does more information mean better decision making?

35:11 How is AI currently perceived in your business?

39:23 Audience Q&A

How to connect

Collecting feedback can be a challenge, especially when it comes to our content! From the framing to the timing, it’s easy to get the basics wrong, but this episode helps us get it right.

Matt Laybourn, Founder of Rockee - a platform built to collect content feedback in real time - joined Gary to talk us through the fundamentals of capturing feedback we can use.

Timestamps

0:00 Intro to the episode, Matt and Rockee

4:04 The basics of good feedback

8:38 Is there trust in your content?

13:20 Improving content through feedback

16:44 Low-hanging fruit and quick wins

19:38 When we collect feedback matters

26:34 Storytelling using feedback

31:28 Keep feedback personal

How to connect

Backed by the latest HowNow and Lattice research, this episode takes you through four realistic HR trends for 2024. No gimmicks, just proven tactics for more impact in the year to come.

There’s been a lot of talk about Slack’s recent week-long hiatus dedicated to learning in the past few weeks. 

"Ranger Week" involves employees temporarily putting aside their regular work duties to study various modules offered through Salesforce's Trailhead online learning platform. 

And to achieve Ranger Status, Slack employees need to complete approximately 40 hours of online learning.

With all the debate on this approach, HowNow Head of People, Pauline Taylor, joined Gary to talk through the pros, cons and improvements to be made.

Read HR Grapevine’s article on this: https://www.hrgrapevine.com/content/article/2023-10-24-slack-announces-radical-week-long-shutdown-due-to-an-internal-skills-crisis

Running order:

0:00 Slack’s week-long shutdown

2:28 Taking people out of the workflow

6:09 The importance of context

10:23 Relevance and structure in learning

17:51 Learning with purpose and autonomy

25:14 Feedback for learning initiatives

27:05 The impact on wellbeing

29:36 How to improve this approach

How to connect

Backed by the latest research, Nelson and Gary take you through 5 realistic L&D trends for 2024. No gimmicks, just proven tactics for more impact in the year to come.

From using AI intentionally, to aligning with you organisation’s goals and upskilling people for the future, you’ll want to hear this conversation.

As small and solo L&D teams, there’s so much we can do - but how do we focus on the stuff that drives impact?

​We want to build good relationships with people, but pushing back and saying no are key to solving problems.

​And how do we keep enjoying the ride and build a network around us to share it with?

In this episode, ​Emma Aplin, Eryn Frost and Annie Woodcock joined us to share their honest experiences and best advice. 

Running order

0:00 Intro to the show and today’s guests

1:10 How can L&D teams prioritise to add value?

16:06 Borrowing skills from internal experts

27:13 Advice on building your external network

30:56 Getting buy-in across your business

48:20 Audience Q&A

How to connect

Find Emma on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aplinej/

Find Eryn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eryn-frost-2b607b21/

Find Annie on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annie-woodcock-177037a7/

In this episode, Gary's joined by Winnie Amoaku, UK Partnerships Manager at HiBob, to discuss the relationship between HR and L&D and what’s needed for it to flourish.

From their common audience and shared foundation, to how they collaborate to drive performance and retention, this is a brilliant conversation.

Running order

0:00 Intro to Winnie and her background

2:14 Roles and responsibilities for HR and L&D

5:30 The balance between hiring and upskilling

11:11 Discussing Amazon’s data-led upskilling

14:20 Making development part of employee benefits

19:00 Building the employer brand and the problem with losing knowledge

25:21 Tech frustrations and learner expectations

30:37 HR’s in tech adoption

How to connect

Learning science feels like a buzzword to some and comes with baggage for others, which often stops us understanding what it really means and applying it to any great effect.\

Lauren Waldman, Learning Pirate, joined us ​​to chat through what learning science means in practice, why L&D pros need to understand how learning happens, the role of the brain in upskilling and driving change, and much more.

Running order

0:00 Intro to Lauren and this conversation

3:05 What does learning science mean in practice?

7:32 L&D’s perception of itself

12:24 Understanding behaviour change

19:22 How does our brain work against us?

22:52 The challenge of getting buy-in

30:22 Why L&D pros need to understand the brain

39:51 Designing learning for the brain

42:51 Good examples from Lauren’s experiences

46:20 Considering stress and other emotions

53:16 Being kind to yourself and where to find Lauren

How to connect

As we approach episode 50 of L&D Disrupt Live (woohoo), Gary shares 13 of his favourite tips, tactics and lessons from hosting the show.🎙️ Join us live for episode 50: AI In L&D: How To Move Beyond The Gimmicks with Egle Vinauskaite:

Give us one hour, and we’ll give you insights from decades of L&D experience!

L&D Life Hacks are back!

​Taking the proven lessons from our expert panel and framing them in a way you can apply every day.

From the reframing you need to collaborate effectively, to how you manage the short and long-term L&D vision, and much more.

​​Meet our experts

Join Chris Chesterman (Head of Sales, HowNow) as he speaks to Aki Friedrich, Director of Learning Experience at Superside.

They discuss the importance of following your curiosity and creativity, the facilitation skills he picked up from teaching German, lessons from stepping into internal leadership roles, and much more.

Book a demo of HowNow: https://hubs.la/Q01RWy9P0Download your FREE Death of the LMS guide: https://hubs.la/Q01RWyMr0

If you’re a small or solo L&D team, the world probably feels like it’s changing faster than ever!

The question is how can we respond, adapt and innovate to solve complex problems?

​The Agile L&D approach will help!

Join Gary Stringer (Content Marketing Manager, HowNow) as he speaks to Deborah Hankin, Chief People Officer at Astound Commerce.

They discuss how her marketing background influences her CPO role, the importance of transparency, getting long-term buy-in for L&D, who new CPOs should collaborate with, and much more.

Book a demo of HowNow: https://hubs.la/Q01RWy9P0Download your FREE Death of the LMS guide: https://hubs.la/Q01RWyMr0

Join Chris Chesterman (Head of Sales, HowNow) as he speaks to Zarina Ward, Global Chief People Officer at Kantar Public.

They discuss lessons from Zarina’s recruitment experience, how the commercial mindset helps CPOs have better conversations, lessons from big career wins and things that didn’t pay off, and much more.

Book a demo of HowNow: https://hubs.la/Q01RWy9P0Download your FREE Death of the LMS guide: https://hubs.la/Q01RWyMr0

“Thinking, attention, memory and behaviour can all be different for someone who is neurodivergent.” 

And with around 20% of the population being neurodivergent, it’s time for a conversation on how L&D can better support employees.

Hayley Brackley, Neurodiversity Specialist and founder of Great Minds Don’t, joined us to have that conversation.

From day-to-day actions we can all take to build a better culture to how we build live sessions and resources, this episode is packed with tangible lessons you can apply today.

Running order:

0:00 Hayley’s background, story and career

6:53 Defining neurodiversity in the L&D space

12:00 Everyday actions we can take 

19:06 Collecting learner feedback

23:04 Providing meeting clarity

27:35 A neurodivergent-friendly space helps everyone

28:32 How do we understand neurodivergent needs? 

32:24 Running better live sessions

41:10 Creating better resources

45:02 Audience Q&A

How to connect

Join Nelson as he speaks to Lara Morgenthaler, Chief People Officer at ShipBob. They discuss why Lara moved from recruiting to HR business partnering, building tolerance for change, whether you can teach curiosity, lessons from working at Amazon, and much more.

Book a demo of HowNow: https://hubs.la/Q01RWy9P0

Download your FREE Death of the LMS guide: https://hubs.la/Q01RWyMr0

Join Nelson as he speaks to Fidelma Butler, Chief People Officer at Couchbase.

They discuss how Fidelma entered the HR space, the power of storytelling and data to drive change, how CPOs can spend more wisely, work-life balance as a HR leader, and much more.

Book a demo of HowNow: https://hubs.la/Q01RWy9P0

Download your FREE Death of the LMS guide: https://hubs.la/Q01RWyMr0

Download your FREE Death of the LMS guide: https://hubs.la/Q01RWyMr0

See HowNow in action! Sign up for a live walkthrough: https://hubs.la/Q01RWzht0

In the final L&D Disrupt Short from this year’s Learning Technologies, David Callander, Head of Learning Design at Mint Interactive, share his lessons on building effective learning experiences.

From creating content that solves real problems to making it accessible in moments of need, David shared some great advice.

Join Nelson as he speaks to Angela Benmassaoud, Chief People Officer at HealthAxis Group.

They discuss how Angela’s mum inspired her early career, what makes a great leader, fostering a sense of openness, and so much more.

Book a demo of HowNow: https://hubs.la/Q01RWy9P0

Download your FREE Death of the LMS guide: https://hubs.la/Q01RWyMr0

Download your FREE Death of the LMS guide: https://hubs.la/Q01RWyMr0

See HowNow in action! Sign up for a live walkthrough: https://hubs.la/Q01RWzht0

In this conversation recorded at Learning Technologies 2023, Gary is joined by Sarah Mian, Head of Learning Content at The Access Group, to discuss how we can create more engaging learning content.

From why it so often disconnects to how we take a more human-centered approach, these tips will take your content to the next level.

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-mian-32a39a42/

In this episode, Nelson is joined by Sarah Coleman, Chief People Officer at Adarma Security.

They discuss Sarah’s HR background, whether we need experience in a sector to excel in it, Ruthless prioritisation as a CPO, and much more. 

Book a demo of HowNow: https://hubs.la/Q01RWy9P0Download your FREE Death of the LMS guide: https://hubs.la/Q01RWyMr0

See HowNow in action! Sign up for a live walkthrough: https://hubs.la/Q01RWzht0

Running order

0:00 Intro to Sarah.

4:45 The first HR role and impostor syndrome.

8:17 Building Head of HR skills.

9:55 Creating work-life balance.

15:36 The importance of main sector expertise

17:18 Where should a CPO start in a new business?

20:50 Ruthless prioritisation as a CPO.

23:03 Quickfire questions.

29:40 Advice to aspiring CPOs.

Download your FREE Death of the LMS guide: https://hubs.la/Q01RWyMr0

See HowNow in action! Sign up for a live walkthrough: https://hubs.la/Q01RWzht0

In this L&D Disrupt Short, Gary is joined by Felix Ohlhauser, Head of Sales International at PINKTUM, to discuss how we can make learning more accessible and applicable at the point of need. 

They also explain how you can build courses to make each part and resource work independently.

When it comes to learning budgets, you're probably at one of two stages:

☝️You've given people a personal budget to support their growth.

✌️You're not there yet! But you're looking at ways to free up time, funds and resources.

Either way, this live podcast will give you the tools to build learning budgets and drive impact with them.

Join ​Bonita Matthee (Learning and Development Lead at Permutive), and Ulrika Hofman (People Partner at Scrive) to discuss the full learning budget journey. 

From what to do before you offer a dedicated financial budget to rolling that out when the time does come and optimising the process for ROI.

Running order:

0:00 Learning budgets are more than money

5:31 Enabling managers to have better development conversations

9:23 Establish career goals and skills gaps

13:36 Using data and collaborative spending

18:19 What someone wants to do vs. what’s beneficial

21:39 The request process for budget spend

30:26 Building relationships with managers

34:25 Progression and learning’s relationship

40:45 Employer branding and talent attractionHow to connect

In this episode, Nelson is joined by Anthony Onesto, Chief People Officer at Suzy. They discuss the benefits of Anthony’s commercial background, the issue of being a generalist vs. a specialist, his recently-published book, and much more.  

Book a demo of HowNow: https://hubs.la/Q01RWy9P0

Download your FREE Death of the LMS guide: https://hubs.la/Q01RWyMr0

Download your FREE Death of the LMS guide: https://hubs.la/Q01RWyMr0

See HowNow in action! Sign up for a live walkthrough: https://hubs.la/Q01RWzht0

In this short-form conversation, Gary speaks with Helen Marshall, Chief Learning Officer at Thrive and host of the Diary of a CLO podcast, about skills gaps, L&D trends and how she approaches new projects like launching the WomenIn community and podcast hosting.

In this episode, Nelson is joined by Tatjana Tasan, Chief People & Sustainability Officer at Viridium.

They discuss how Tatjana worked out which skills she’d need and how to build them, how people leaders can be more proactive, HR business partnering, and much more.

Book a demo of HowNow: https://hubs.la/Q01RWy9P0

Download your FREE Death of the LMS guide: https://hubs.la/Q01RWyMr0

Running order

0:00 Intro to Tatjana and her HR background.

4:48 What you wish you knew/the skills you realised you needed.

7:38 How Tatjana built those skills.

9:20 Being reactive vs. proactive and getting a seat at the table.

13:22 Does HR need HR expertise to lead?

15:56 HR business partnering

21:48 Vulnerability about what you don’t know

27:28 Realising I was ready for a CPO role.

32:15 Starting my own business.

38:28 Quickfire questions

Download your FREE Death of the LMS guide: https://hubs.la/Q01RWyMr0

See HowNow in action! Sign up for a live walkthrough: https://hubs.la/Q01RWzht0

In this conversation, Gary speaks with Ally Jones, Leadership Development Expert, Learning Experience Designer and Co-Founder of Coachable, about how we can build better learning experiences. 

From considering moments of need to answering what’s in it for me?, this episode will help you diagnose problems better and deliver learning experiences that solve them.

Banking’s a fast-changing industry, full of large organisations where lots of people need support to learn, grow and build relevant skills.

​So, how do L&D teams spin all those plates, manage many stakeholders, support individuals and build a sense of purpose? 

In this episode, Nelson is joined by Gemma Atkinson, Global Chief People Officer at Active International.

They discuss how Gemma’s values shaped her decision to step into a CPO role, her sales background, the best ways to give and receive feedback, and much more.

Book a demo of HowNow: https://hubs.la/Q01RWy9P0

Download your FREE Death of the LMS guide: https://hubs.la/Q01RWyMr0

Running order

0:00 Intro to Gemma and her sales background.

7:34 Best ways to give/receive feedback.

16:20 How your values shape your approach.

24:02 The impact of values on decision making.

26:08 How Gemma became a CPO

32:09 Quickfire questions

Download your FREE Death of the LMS guide: https://hubs.la/Q01RWyMr0

See HowNow in action! Sign up for a live walkthrough: https://hubs.la/Q01RWzht0

In this short-form conversation, Gary speaks with Hannah Waddams, Marketing Director at MAAS Marketing, about marketing principles L&D teams can leverage. From communicating value to putting the audience first, this is packed with great advice you can apply today.

In this episode, Nelson is joined by Ash Rama, VP People at Mention Me, to discuss his background in psychology, how he entered the people space, whether his view of L&D has changed since, how he deals with impostor syndrome, and so much more. 

Book a demo of HowNow: https://hubs.la/Q01RWy9P0

Download your FREE Death of the LMS guide: https://hubs.la/Q01RWyMr0

Running order:

0:00 Intro to Ash and his background in music, sales and tech.

6:06 What helped Ash make a big career decision?

8:17 An understanding of psychology and self-awareness

11:58 Stepping into the people space.

15:00 Has your L&D perspective changed?

19:40 Mentoring vs. coaching

21:57 Handling impostor syndrome

23:27 What do you wish you knew when you started?

24:25 Advice to others CPOs.