Learning Uncut

The Learning Uncut podcast is over five and a half years old, with more than 147,000 unique downloads in over 120 countries. In 2023 we've added over 20 regular case study episodes, as well as resuming the Elevate series.  Laura Overton from Learning Changemakers joins host Michelle Ockers to look back over 2023. They discuss professional highlights, sum up their observations on L&D in 2023, and r...

Continuing their series on skills development, Ravina Bhatia and Michelle Ockers walk through the three-stage Learning Uncut process for skills development: (1) co-design a custom skills framework (2) implement the framework (3) develop a skills toolkit. They outline the key tasks in each phase and link them back to the elements of skills building previously covered in this Skills Development seri...

IOR is a small, innovative Australian family owned and operated business with a diverse range of services in the 'fuels' industry. This episode focuses on supporting drivers who deliver fuel to remotely operated 24-hour diesel stops that service remote areas of Australia. While the business is high tech the learning and performance support approach is a fit-for-purpose mix of digital, offline and...

Continuing their series on Skills Development, Ravina Bhatia and Michelle Ockers explore the critical element of 'accessible development'. This is all about easy access, easy navigation and using development tools and resources when and where you want to. They discuss accepting the friction points that exist in your organisation and making access easy regardless of these points. This is the fifth...

Learning Uncut's host, Michelle Ockers, interviews Claire Seldon, a learning designer and gamification consultant. Claire works for the Department of Education in New South Wales and leads a team of designers in creating gamified digital interactives for students. She is also an academic at the University of Technology, Sydney, specializing in gamification and AR/VR in education. Claire discusses...

Continuing their series on Skills Development, Ravina Bhatia and Michelle Ockers explore multifaceted development approaches. They discuss why it's important to use a variety of development approaches, and the most common gaps in the approaches offered for development in organisations. This is the fourth in our Learning Uncut Elevate series on Skills Development. Additional episodes published fort...

Keara Byrne, the Head of Leadership and Organisational Development at Arriba Group, discusses her extensive use of human-centered design (HCD) in various organisations. Keara shares her passion for HCD and its value in creating effective solutions. She stands by the claim that without HCD, she would have wasted time, money, and credibility. Listen to learn more about the benefits of co-designing s...

Continuing their series on Skills Development, Ravina Bhatia and Michelle Ockers explore the critical element of goal alignment in skills development. They discuss the challenges of aligning personal development goals with organisational objectives and emphasize the importance of this alignment for success.   This is the third in our Learning Uncut Elevate series on Skills Development. Additional...

Simon Jobson, the Director of Capability and Learning at Sydney Trains discusses their Elevate customer service training program for their operational workforce of over 2,000 people. The program was designed using an evidence-based approach that drew on insights from business data and employee focus groups. The digital learning program is problem-centred (rather than content oriented) and engaging...

Continuing our special Learning Uncut Elevate series on Skills Development, Learning Uncut Co-Founders Ravina Bhatia and Michelle Ockers discuss the seven key elements of skills development. They explore what it means to have these elements in place and how they can help organizations set up a successful skills development journey. Whether you're just starting out or already on the path, this epis...

Michelle speaks with Fabrizio Conrado, the Director of AI and Technology at Avado, about building an integrated learning technology infrastructure. Fabrizio discusses Avado's journey in selecting Thought Industries as their LMS provider and how they successfully integrated it with other technology elements. He also shares key considerations for selecting the right technology and partner and provid...

Skills development has gained significant attention in L&D in recent years, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and rapidly changing business landscape. In this Elevate episode Learning Uncut co-founders Ravina Bhatia and Michelle Ockers discuss how skills development has evolved in recent years and fundamentals for getting started with contemporary approaches to skills developmen...

In this episode, James Kennedy, a civil engineer and change practitioner, discusses the contractor safety management program at Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC). He shares how his childhood passion for LEGOs sparked his curiosity about how things work and how his team used data to rectify their initial misconceptions and bolster program design. Learn about "Hearts and Minds," an initiative...

Join Michelle Ockers for a compelling conversation with Dustin Lacasse, the L&D Lead at the San Diego Zoo, as they delve into the world of non-profit L&D. Lacasse shares his personal experiences, highlighting both the challenges and possibilities. He brings to light his team's strategic approach to performance management by moving away from a "needs improvement" to a "developing towards standards"...

How Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport has piloted a customised micro-credential to develop storytelling skills across their workforce. Our guests are Stacie Swindon, a learning and development consultant from Waka Kotahi and Marcus Garrett, an instructional designer from RMIT Online who partnered on this project. Our host, Michelle Ockers, from Learning Uncut also worked on this pilot, shaping the...

Marc Howells, VP of Global Talent and Development at AstraZeneca, discusses the company's radical learning transformation. He dives into cultivating a culture of lifelong learning, experimenting with journaling for learning reflection, and fostering continuous learning through their "Learning for Life" campaign. Howells also explains the shift toward learning democratisation, making resources acce...

Deb Van Rensburg, who leads Enterprise Regulatory Learning at National Australia Bank (NAB) discusses how they have evolved their approach to regulatory learning. We cover the 3-stage approach they used to streamline content and improve the learner experience. This includes the use of real-world scenarios and inclusive design practices to ensure that every participant feels seen and finds relevanc...

Join us for this episode of Learning Uncut as we delve into learning transformation with Bendigo Bank's Capability team leaders, Caroline Petha, Jo Doody, and David Maiolo. They discuss their individual responsibilities and collaborative strategies in capability, learning design, ecosystem and learning culture development. Their work demonstrates the value of integrated efforts across teams, and t...

We explore highlights of the Learning Technologies UK 2023 conference (LTUK23). Our guests, including the conference organiser, thirty under 30s cohort leader, speakers, social media team member and a session chairperson to share their different perspectives on the conference. Explore the major themes that emerged, including the curiosity about generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), the signific...

In this episode of the Learning Uncut podcast, Matthew Mould and Emma Shirlaw from ANZ Bank and Simon Dewar from BSI eLearning discuss their award-winning onboarding program. The program won the Best Onboarding award and was a runner up in the Best Blended Learning category at the 2022 AITD Excellence Awards. The team redesigned their Branch Banker onboarding program to increase speed to competenc...

Michal Niezgoda, a Leadership Development Specialist at Amazon Data Services, shares how Carl Hodler, from Learner Lab, helped him run a storytelling challenge for leaders from multiple business units. Using StoryTagger, leaders recorded short videos on the theme of Thriving versus Surviving in challenging times. Carl and Michal discuss how they shaped the campaign and the importance of capturing...

Viv Burgess, formerly from the Tasmanian State Service knows how to patiently and persistently get things done across the 18 agencies in this state government. She walks us through how she led a cross-agency working group to break down silos to develop and implement a single Manager Essentials program. Now in its sixth year, this award-winning program emphasises application in the workplace and ha...

Diane Hickman from the Australian Public Service (APS) Commission speaks about the success of the APS-wide organisational learning strategy that was launched 20 months ago. Di shares the process they used to create a strategy that is relevant for their diverse workforce of over 150,000 people working in more than one 150 different agencies – many with their own L&D team. She discussed the importan...

Adam McKinnon, the People Data and Analytics Leader at Reece, joins me to talk about the fascinating world of People Analytics. Reece is using a People Analytics platform to gain some serious insights into their business questions and issues related to people, and Adam's here to share some real-world examples with us. He dives into how Reece is using data from a variety of sources, including their...

In this episode, we discuss the latest innovation in HR and learning and development - the talent marketplace. Josh Bersin has described how it helps employees access opportunities within and outside their hierarchies, benefiting both the employer and employee. Our guest, Dean Summlar, the VP of Talent Management & Learning at Schneider Electric, shares insights into implementing the talent market...