The Assembly

Adam speaks with Edd Gallier, Head of Learning & Development at Leonardo Hotels in this interview.  Edd is a learning thought leader, regular conference speaker and awards host, contributing to learning publications in the areas of online and blended learning, learning and communication technology, and guest service.  He is also a publisher of award-winning online learning and is regularly par...

In this interview, Adam speaks with Nicola Manuel, Learning and Development Manager for Clean Linen Services.  Nicola has worked in a development role for the past 30 years in various industries. Starting as an outdoor activity instructor to qualifying in sports management. Within a few years, she moved from the physically active sports world into a business role and delivered computer software tr...

In this interview, Adam speaks with Becky West, Head of Learning and Development at Ann Summers.  Becky started her career as a teacher and moved into the Leisure and tourism industry as a frontline manager. Becky found her niche in the world of learning and development nearly 10 years ago. She’s worked in senior L&D roles for Merlin Entertainments, Entain and, most recently, heads up the lear...

In this interview, Adam speaks with James Hampton, Head of Employee Experience at St Austell Brewery. James has been supporting people’s organisational performance in the military, further education, retail, hospitality and production for the past 23 years. During this time, he has used this experience to challenge the status quo of traditional people experience approaches.  James is passionate ab...

In this interview, Adam speaks with Toby Newman, Senior L&D consultant at CH Robinson. Toby is an accomplished learning and development professional with 20+ years of expertise in designing and delivering high-impact learning programs. He’s passionate about promoting employee well-being and fostering a culture of continuous learning and is skilled at leveraging technology to help achieve this....

In this episode of the L&D Challenges podcast, Adam and Rich join forces with L&D industry experts Don Taylor and Toby Harris to review the key themes from Series 1. They discuss the five core takeaways from interviews and offer insightful recommendations on how to implement these ideas. The five key themes: Listen first and then prioritise Always in beta Build opt-in learning networks Pus...

In todays podcast, Richard talks with Phil King, formerly from Roche and Bristol-Myers in L&D leadership roles and now impactfully Consulting and Coaching whilst Co-Hosting his Soulful Leader Podcast. Take a listen as they explore Phil’s ‘3 C’s’ model, unwrapping the importance of the role leadership play in driving a systemic change towards a learning culture, ensuring capabilities are in pla...

In this episode of the L&D Challenges Podcast, Adam speaks with Brittany Chamberlin about her experience in the L&D industry. Brittany has been in the L&D industry for more than 15 years. In that time, she has developed and launched over 500 training courses, built more than ten onboarding programmes and revamped a similar number of new hire training programmes. In this episode, Britta...

In this podcast, Adam talks to Michael Miller about setting up the first formal learning systems and processes at Sygnature Discovery. In this fascinating discussion, Michael talks us through the process he followed in setting up the "Sygnature Academy". The first centralised, companywide learning initiative put together at Sygnature Discovery. What started as an effort to streamline and focus loc...

In this podcast, Adam speaks with Andrew Golightly about a new leadership programme he developed and rolled out. Andrew is a Learning and Development Specialist at EDF, where he has managed all aspects of the end-to-end training cycle in a complex and large multinational. He's an expert at designing and delivering change programmes that improve performance, and today he's here to share some of his...

In this episode, Adam speaks with Ana Silva about a new internal learning community she helped develop and roll out. Ana is the Learning Business partner at Continental tyres, where she supports the organization's learning strategy, develops training and is passionate about creative problem-solving in Learning and Development. This episode focuses on how to help develop your internal L&D speci...

In this podcast, Adam talks to Adele Bradley about a brilliant learning initiative intended to drive better decision-making - a Thinking Environment. Adele is an organisational Development Manager at a global corporation and specialises in Leadership Talent & Development, Executive Coaching, Culture Change Initiatives, Change management and Coaching Programs. She's a disciple of Nancy Klein, a...

In this podcast, Adam talks to Alfonso about his experiences of running L&D at a large, complex organisation. Alfonso has a PhD in educational psychology and is Head of Digital Academy at Ricoh Europe. He's also a Harvard Business Review Council Member and a professor at the UPF Barcelona School of Management.  He's an expert on how people and organisations learn, leadership, team management,...

In this podcast, Adam is joined by L&D expert Rachel Wood. Rachel is a Learning and Development Partner for Burendo, the founder of #LLAND, a learning and development community based in Leeds. She's an active mentor for L&D professionals and veterans transitioning out of the Armed Forces. Rachel has been working across Public, Private and Third Sector Industries to build learning capabilit...

In todays podcast, Richard talks with Sally Dunne, Learning and Development lead at Choice Support.  Choice Support is a national UK charity supporting people with autism, learning disabilities, and mental health needs. Sally has been there nearly 20 years, and shares her experience in how they drive learner engagement. Key themes in this discussion are the emphasis on purpose within this mission-...

In this episode, Adam speaks with Daniel Houseman about the various learning initiatives he and his team have introduced at Ribby Hall Village, a luxury holiday village in Lancashire. Daniel takes us through a leadership initiative he's developed and discusses the challenges to the business of staffing, training, and upskilling post-covid. This fascinating episode covers a comprehensive range of l...