The Learning & Development Podcast

A company that looks to the future will know how to prepare for it. Strategic Foresight takes a comprehensive view of your past experiences and decisions, and brings dynamic clarity and focus to your company by creating a transformational framework for you to understand your decisions, processes, landscape, and pathways. In this episode, Frank and David explore Strategic Foresight and the work the...

David & Kattie led L&D in different regions - at the same - at The Walt Disney Company and in this episode they reminisce about what it was like, some of the great opportunities they had and some of the challenges they faced.  This is a candid conversation that will appease Disney fans - and L&D fans - alike. KEY TAKEAWAYS For large organisations like Disney, the approach to L&D has to be differen...

Restrictions as a result of the global pandemic have seen many L&D leaders seeking more predictable and reliable ways of affecting individual and organisational performance with digital and virtual solutions. At this time, approaches developed and advocated by Bob Mosher (and Conrad Gottfredson) have gained even more traction with high-profile examples of them making a huge difference. In this epi...

Whether L&D are advising others’ on their careers or we’re navigating our own, it’s useful to acknowledge how careers are changing and how societal shifts mean we need to shift our approaches to progressing our careers. In this episode, we explore current thinking and practice for post-COVID times. KEY TAKEAWAYS The COVID situation has demonstrated the importance of being ready for change and chal...

Cognitive Task Analysis gets to the decision-making behind performance so that what is done by Subject Matter Experts can be accurately shared and then replicated. In this episode, Dick Clark shares insights and experience into what CTA is, why it is critical to successful L&D and how to get started.   KEY TAKEAWAYS CTA improves the interview strategies that designers use to discover from experts...

Just a short message from David, to let you know that he is taking a few weeks away from podcasting to recharge. But, that he is still available on other platforms, which he shares in the podcast. Along with a request for a bit of help with inspiration from his audience. VALUABLE RESOURCES The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast...

Jobs-to-be-Done is best defined as a perspective — a lens through which to observe markets, customers, needs, competitors, and customer segments differently, and by doing so, make innovation far more predictable and profitable. In its application to Learning & Development, it is an approach to truly understand the needs of both employees and L&D in order to develop products that make a predictable...

The opportunity with digital L&D has always been to achieve more but when online learning has been resisted by employees and with eLearning being tarnished by poor click-next courses, it seemed the opportunity was beyond us. However, by pivoting to Agile, working closely with their clients and leading with resources Sebastian and his team at Vitality Health address almost 10x the number of project...

The step-up into L&D leadership can often be underestimated because it’s hard to understand unless you’re doing it. Too often L&D professionals bemoan the absence of the conditions for change but this is where leadership comes in. In this episode, we discuss what it means to become a leader of an L&D function, what the new expectations are, what a leader needs to do, and how to bring people with t...

Stepping up to L&D Manager can be both exciting and daunting but we can all learn from those who’ve done it already. In this episode, Jack describes his role, his assimilation, and his development, alongside the expectations and experiences that have helped him establish himself at this new level.  KEY TAKEAWAYS Becoming a manager is a huge change. You actually are changing your career when you ta...

Starting your career in L&D can be exciting and daunting. Where do you start? Which skills are important? What pitfalls must you avoid? Especially in these times when the whole profession has shifted and digital approaches are transforming the practice. In this episode, Lexie Hockaday (Junior L&D Product Manager) explores her own journey and development, alongside her line manager, Anne-Marie Burb...

Is a Learning Culture essential if an organisation is to realise the potential of its people or is it, perhaps, a false nirvana? In this episode, it is explored when and how it becomes possible to develop a Learning Culture, we bust some myths around it and seek to empower L&D to begin it’s progression right now rather than wait for the perfect conditions - because those will never arrive. KEY TAK...

Sukh Pabial recently conducted some research to understand the impact of COVID-19 - and subsequent restrictions - on L&D. In this episode, the results of this research are shared and explored in order to help understand where we are now and where we, as a profession, should prepare to go. KEY TAKEAWAYS The furlough scheme saw to it that many jobs were saved, but for those in L&D, if robust remote...

Design Thinking is an emerging trend in Learning & Development but one that can easily be misunderstood or misappropriated - but it can also be incredibly powerful. In this episode we dive deep into what it is, how it can help L&D and how to use it.  KEY TAKEAWAYS Approaching problems from the perspective of the user, and being informed by data, is a way to solve real business problems. Design is...

The digital skills gap within L&D has been called out as one of only 4 areas that could be critically holding back organisations and unless we recognise this and develop ourselves then we’ll continue to be part of the problem rather than those at the forefront of addressing it. In this episode, we discuss the difference between what L&D perceive to be digital and the opportunity that it actually p...

As podcasting grows, in terms of listeners and the number of podcasts available, the opportunity for internal use in organisations is also growing. This has been an area that many in L&D have been experimenting with as a new channel and another modern way of sharing messages and insights. In this episode we explore examples of what’s working well in some organisations and tips for getting going wi...

If addressing Skills Gaps was as easy as plugging in a new platform filled with categorised content then L&D wouldn’t be recognised as part of the Skills Gap problem rather than addressing it. Yes, that’s right, Organisational Learning is deemed under-skilled at addressing ‘broad-based re-skilling efforts’. So how did we get here and how do we sort ourselves out? These questions - and many more ar...

So here we are again, like so many countries around the world, in Lockdown. But as we’ve learned over the past year, this does not mean that business completely stops and many are finding innovative ways to continue operating and certainly preparing for the next phase: Post-vaccination. In this episode, we get to hear from three successful and innovative L&D leaders about what’s happening in their...

Induction is common to all most all organisations. What’s also common is getting it wrong. Hours spent delivering slide after slide after slide with no intention of preparing attendees with the information and know-how that will impact their working. This was the case for Ross Stevenson at Trainline.com and this was the reason he decided to do something different - and do something that works. KEY...

We’ve discussed the principles of Digital Marketing and its application to L&D in previous podcasts but this one is slightly different. Satoshi and the team at SwissRe have up-skilled themselves and experimented with both the approaches and tools of Digital Marketing to get closer to employees and create a compelling Digital Learning offering. KEY TAKEAWAYS Too few L&D professionals see the overla...

As the last episode of 2020, we pause for reflection, summarise some of the learning from 26 episodes so far and look forward to next year. The first episode of 2021 will be released on 5th January. KEY TAKEAWAYS Many priorities from the world of 2019 were put aside in the wake of the COVID pandemic. It has forced us to re-evaluate what's important, and how we work in the world of today. Emerging...

It’s a comparison that provokes strong reactions from L&D professionals who see mostly distinctions between Digital Marketing and Workplace Learning. But both seek to be where people are looking for answers to their questions in order to influence their behaviour, via education and prompts. Not only does L&D have more in common with Digital Marketing than we’d like to admit but Marketers have also...

DESCRIPTION L&D is as renowned for not knowing the impact that interventions have as the training that's delivered. For some stakeholders and organisations it’s enough to know that training took place but that’s becoming less and less the case. In this episode, Kevin brings his experience of investigating learning impact via his latest ebook: The L&D Detective Kit For Solving Impact Mysteries. KEY...

As organisations adapt to the challenges of COVID and Lockdown, L&D has adopted the essence of Agile by responding quickly to emerging needs, working closely with those expected to perform differently and being accountable for enabling performance and results.  This has been necessary to play our part but there’s more we can do to develop ourselves and extend our value further. In this episode, Na...

Transitioning to a senior leadership position can be hugely challenging as experienced managers enter unchartered terrain. Without understanding quite what to expect, professionals are thrust into the most challenging of circumstances and many of them will fail.  In this episode, insight is shed onto this transition, with stories, tips and advice from one of the world’s most renowned CLO’s. KEY TA...