Get a capability framework for every role in your organization, in one spreadsheet ready to download and use.
Why use the Capability Assistant?
Save hours of grunt work and focus on more impactful work
Free to use and accessible any time
Identify, define and assign competencies to every job role in your company Build your free capability framework today!
MICHELLE EGGLESTON SCHWARTZ, CPTM
SKILLS HAVE BECOME THE CURRENCY OF AGILITY, HELPING INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS RESPOND TO CHANGE WITH CONFIDENCE.
Skills development has always been at the heart of learning and development (L&D), but in today’s ever-changing workplace, it’s taken on a new urgency. As technology reshapes how we work — and the skills required to keep up — L&D leaders are under pressure to ensure their training strategies are not just reactive, but forward-looking and adaptable.
It’s no longer enough to build training programs based solely on today’s roles. Job responsibilities are evolving, and entirely new roles are emerging. In this environment, skills have become the currency of agility, helping individuals and organizations respond to change with confidence. But that raises important questions: Which skills matter most? How can we assess what’s missing? And how do we embed a culture of continuous development into the workplace?
This issue of Training Industry Magazine is designed to help answer those questions. Articles in this edition explore practical, strategic approaches to building the capabilities your workforce needs now and in the future. You’ll find guidance on building a culture where real skills development can thrive. One that goes beyond the training plan and supports employees through active listening, creative problem-solving and self-reflection.
In addition to technical skills, this issue highlights the growing importance of soft skills like communication, feedback and adaptability — competencies that
support collaboration and resilience amid disruption and uncertainty. You’ll also find insights on how to leverage skills data to inform decisions, personalize learning and align development with evolving business needs.
As we know, effective training is not a one-time event. Skills development is an ongoing process that requires intention, adaptability and empathy. As you read, we encourage you to reflect on your current approach: Are you building the kind of workforce that’s ready for what’s next?
L&D leaders are uniquely positioned to guide their organizations through this transformation — not just by delivering training, but by building a culture that values growth, curiosity and continuous improvement. By staying aligned with business needs, embracing innovation and empowering learners at every level, L&D can turn skills development into a true competitive advantage. No matter where you are along your journey, this issue offers ideas, inspiration and tools to help you move forward with purpose.
We love hearing from you, so please share your thoughts at editor@ trainingindustry.com
Michelle Eggleston Schwartz, CPTM, is the editor in chief of Training Industry, Inc., and co-host of “The Business of Learning,” the Training Industry podcast. Email Michelle.
By Kathleen Carr
HOW TO CREATE AN EFFECTIVE SKILLS DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR THE MODERN WORKPLACE
By Heather Burright
Align employee capabilities with strategic goals, focus and clear success metrics.
HOW ACTIVE LISTENING AND EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK WORK TOGETHER TO REDUCE WORKPLACE CONFLICT
By Julia M. Babij, M.S., CPCC
Apply a six-step conversation model to build trust and defuse tensions early.
TURN SKILL DATA INTO STRATEGY: HOW TO CLOSE GAPS AND DRIVE BUSINESS IMPACT
By Kathleen Carr
Design personalized learning journeys and track outcomes to demonstrate impact.
HABITS OF LIFELONG LEARNERS: CULTIVATING A GROWTH MINDSET IN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
By Melaine Mahabir, CPTM, CKM
Tips for embracing challenges and feedback to accelerate skill development
FROM THE EDITOR
By Michelle Eggleston Schwartz, CPTM
LEARNING LEADER SPOTLIGHT
By Lauren Olson
L&D CAREERS
By Amy DuVernet, Ph.D., CPTM
SCIENCE OF LEARNING
THE ESSENTIALS OF COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS
By Sarah-June Carroll and Eric D. Mead
A practical framework for preparation, dialogue and follow-up.
THE SECRETS TO UPSKILLING YOUR ENTIRE TEAM
By Caelan Cooney
Embed learning into daily workflows with continuous, hands-on training that sticks.
FROM WORKSHOP TO WORKFLOW: HOW TO MAKE CREATIVE PROBLEMSOLVING PART OF YOUR CULTURE
By Maggie Redling and Coleman Williams
Introduce real-world constraints and “worstcase” prompts to surface actionable insights.
By JD Dillon 3 9 11 13 15 57 59 61
By Srini Pillay, M.D.
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
By Julie Winkle Giulioni
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
By Dr. Kristal Walker, CPTM
BUILDING LEADERS
By Sam Shriver and Marshall Goldsmith
WHAT’S NEXT IN TECH?
UPSKILLING
By Courtney Johnson Wasylenko, CPTD
Three training pivots for L&D in manufacturing.
HOW-TO
By Joseph Grenny
Find truth in critical feedback.
STRATEGIES
By Kalyan Balantrapu
Use competency mapping to transform training.
PERSPECTIVES
By Shariem Saterfield, CPTM
The quiet art of self-reflection.
CASEBOOK
By Chelsea Smitson, MHA, BSW, SHRM-CP, CPTM
Learn how Corken Steel Products Company invests in people through training.
CLOSING DEALS
By Sarah Gallo, CPTM
Mindtools strengthens L&D capabilities with Kineo acquisition.
COMPANY NEWS
Review the latest training news from the last quarter.
CEO
Ken Taylor ktaylor@trainingindustry.com
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Michelle Eggleston Schwartz meggleston@trainingindustry.com
SENIOR EDITOR
Sarah Gallo sgallo@trainingindustry.com
SENIOR EDITOR
Carla Rudder crudder@trainingindustry.com
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Amanda Longo alongo@trainingindustry.com
SENIOR DESIGNER
Mary Lewis mlewis@trainingindustry.com
DESIGNER
Kellie Blackburn kblackburn@trainingindustry.com
DESIGNER
Cassandra Ortiz cortiz@trainingindustry.com
JUDI BADER, CPTM Senior Director of Culture, Learning and Development Willy’s Mexicana Grill
BARBARA JORDAN, CPTM Group Vice President, Global Learning & Development Sims Metal Management
CATHERINE KELLY, MA, BSN, RN, CPTM Director of Learning Programs Brookdale Senior Living
SHIREEN LACKEY, CPTM Senior Management and Program Analyst, Office of Business Process Integration Veterans Benefits Administration
SCOTT NUTTER Principal/Owner Touch & Go Solutions
MATTHEW S. PRAGER, CPTM Executive Training Manager U.S. Government
DESIGNER
Rylee Hartsell rhartsell@trainingindustry.com
DESIGNER
Sha’Meire Jackson sjackson@trainingindustry.com
ADVERTISING SALES sales@trainingindustry.com
MARC RAMOS Chief Learning Officer Cornerstone OnDemand
KELLY RIDER Chief Learning Officer PTC
DR. SYDNEY SAVION Vice Chancellor for People, Culture & Belonging Vanderbilt University
KERRY TROESTER, CPTM Director, North America Sales Training Lenovo
NATASHA MILLER WILLIAMS Head of Diversity & Inclusion Ferrara
KEE MENG YEO Adjunct Professor Grand Valley State University & Davenport University
MISSION
Training Industry Magazine connects learning and development professionals with the resources and solutions needed to more effectively manage the business of learning.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
ELECTRONIC: Sign up at TrainingIndustry.com to receive notification of each new digital issue.
PRINT:
Print copies are available for purchase at magcloud.com for $17.95.
To order reprints of articles, please contact Training Industry at editor@trainingindustry.com.
PUBLISHER
Training Industry Magazine is published quarterly by:
Training Industry, Inc. 110 Horizon Drive, Suite 110 Raleigh, NC 27615-6520
Determine the leadership solutions your organization needs the most. Download the Aligning KPIs to Organizational Goals template to get started.
In this issue, we are pleased to spotlight Lauren Olson, corporate training and curriculum senior manager at Ulta Beauty. With 20 years in learning and development (L&D), Lauren has mastered the art of transforming organizations across various industries using a blend of passion and expertise. She thrives on helping people unlock their full potential.
Read on to learn about Lauren’s career journey.
Q: HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN L&D?
When I was five, I wanted to have the smartest stuffed animals on the block. In every job I’ve held, I’ve taken on a mentor or peer trainer role. Officially, I entered L&D when I helped my dad start his own food safety training company in 2006.
Q: WHAT’S YOUR MOST MEMORABLE TRAINING EXPERIENCE, GOOD OR BAD?
During my time at PNC Bank, I was part of a team that organized a significant market meeting for over 200 branch managers in Chicago. To add an element of fun to the event, I convinced the entire market leadership team to perform a flash mob. The managers absolutely loved it!
Q: WHO WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOUR MOST VALUABLE ROLE MODEL? WHAT WERE SOME QUALITIES THAT MADE THEM GREAT?
My dad has been an incredible mentor throughout my career. He always offers his unique perspective on the challenges I face. His ability to simplify complex topics and his passion for helping others succeed have inspired me to follow in his footsteps in L&D.
Q: WHAT ARE THE MOST PRESSING ISSUES ON YOUR PROFESSIONAL PLATE RIGHT NOW?
My most pressing challenge is figuring out how to leverage artificial intelligence to streamline and automate processes for my team so they can focus on highervalue tasks. Well, that and how to clone people.
Q: WHAT’S THE MOST CHALLENGING ASPECT OF YOUR JOB?
My small but mighty team develops training for large strategic initiatives and new hire onboarding for the corporate audience. Balancing several competing priorities is an ongoing challenge.
Q: WHAT’S THE MOST REWARDING ASPECT OF YOUR JOB?
My team was established in 2022. As a relatively new team, we have invested a lot into educating others about our capabilities and how we can provide support. As a result, we now frequently receive requests from various teams to develop training. This is fantastic validation of the value our team brings to the business.
Q: WHAT’S YOUR PREFERRED TRAINING METHODOLOGY?
I love instructor-led training, both as a participant and as a facilitator. There’s something powerful about learning from others and their experiences. Additionally, incorporating a bit of entertainment — such as songs, dancing, jokes or stories — can greatly enhance retention and application of the material.
Q: HOW DO YOU FIND THE TIME TO CONTINUE YOUR OWN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT?
If I don’t schedule it, it won’t happen. I never want to get to the end of the year and realize that I didn’t accomplish a single development activity. My team is great about reminding each other to take time for learning and sharing opportunities they discover. We also strive to find topics that interest us, so it doesn’t feel like a chore.
Q: ANY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FOLKS OUT THERE: BOOKS, PARTNERS, RESOURCES, ETC.?
For anyone looking to grow their leadership skills or expand their knowledge, I recommend “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek, “Lessons in Leadership” by Ben Olson, “You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader” by Mark Sanborn and “Design for How People Learn” by Julie Dirksen. I’d also recommend exploring the resources offered by Training Industry, including certification programs, workshops and webinars that are valuable for professionals at all levels.
Q: “IF SOMEONE WANTS TO FOLLOW IN MY PROFESSIONAL FOOTSTEPS, I’D TELL THEM TO BE SURE TO …”
Get curious about the business you support. Ask questions to understand the “why.” Build relationships with partners. Be accountable and dependable. Actively solicit feedback from partners, peers, managers and subordinates. Always assume positive intent — no one wakes up and thinks, “Gosh, I sure hope I screw up at work today!”
JUNE 16-18, 2026 | RALEIGH,
THE RIGHT SIZE. THE RIGHT FOCUS. FOR THE LEARNING
“The conference left us feeling motivated and better equipped to support learning within our organization”
Learning and Development Manager at Accurate Personnel
“Hands down one of the best training/L&D conferences or industry events I've been to!”
Training Program Manager at McAdams
“TICE was a dynamic event that offered valuable insights and facilitated meaningful connections.”
TFSC Training Specialist at Goodwill Industries of San Antonio
AMY DUVERNET, PH.D., CPTM
As the world of work shifts, so too are our roles in learning and development (L&D). L&D professionals must evolve by acquiring new skills while refining the foundational competencies that will remain essential. Given this issue’s focus on skills, I’m using this column to explore the key competencies and skills that L&D professionals will need in the future.
NEW SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE
DIGITAL LITERACY AND TECH SAVVINESS
The importance of technical skills is only growing. L&D professionals must master digital tools and technologies, from artificial intelligence (AI) to data analytics. Preliminary results from Training Industry’s latest Career and Salary Survey indicate that those using AI across key responsibilities earn, on average, 11% more. Embracing these tools allows for personalization, scalability and data-driven training, enhancing our effectiveness and positioning L&D as strategic partners.
Development Tips: To stay ahead, prioritize learning the basics of AI and data analytics. Take online courses and attend webinars and other events to build a strong foundational knowledge. Experiment with small projects to get hands-on experience, and don’t underestimate the power of peer learning. Stay curious about new tools in the L&D space, ask your friends and colleagues about the tools they’re using and how they’re using them, and share what’s working — and what’s not.
With rapid technological change, L&D professionals must adapt quickly. Agility in mindset and execution is essential, from pivoting training formats
to embracing new tools. A flexible approach helps L&D leaders not only keep up with change but drive it.
Development Tips: Schedule time to regularly assess your current strategies and processes. Cultivate a growth mindset by seeking feedback, testing new approaches and reflecting on your lessons learned. Practicing flexibility in day-to-day tasks will help develop the agility you need when bigger changes come.
Strategic thinking remains a cornerstone of L&D success. It enables professionals to align training initiatives with broader organizational goals, driving both business results and L&D’s strategic impact.
Development Tips: Engage in crossdepartmental discussions. Understand your company’s overall goals and ask stakeholders for concrete examples that demonstrate success in each business objective. Regularly review your training programs to ensure they address the long-term vision of the organization, not just immediate needs.
L&D professionals must collaborate with HR, IT and business leadership to ensure training programs align with goals. Strong communication is vital for advocating for L&D initiatives and building trust across the organization.
Development Tips: Be proactive in engaging in discussions with other departments. Focus on developing
listening skills and articulating how L&D initiatives can support broader business objectives. Practice asking clarifying questions, repeating back what you heard to ensure you got it right and probing to understand deeper meaning. Ensure your message is understood as well by asking for understanding, using common language (no L&D jargon) and revising your most critical messages until they are succinct.
Emotional intelligence is essential in adapting programs to the needs of learners and stakeholders. This human element drives better engagement, understanding and outcomes.
Development Tips: Build your emotional intelligence by practicing self-awareness and self-regulation. Empathize with stakeholder challenges, asking yourself, “What is motivating for them? How are they feeling about this challenge?” Adjust your approach accordingly.
L&D professionals must invest in their own development, staying current with trends, technologies and best practices. Committing to continuous learning ensures that you remain effective and ready to meet new challenges in the future.
Amy DuVernet, Ph.D., CPTM, is the director of training and development at Training Industry, Inc., where she oversees all processes related to Training Industry’s courses for training professionals, including program development and evaluation. Email Amy.
Elevate your skills on topics like strategic alignment, leadership, the latest learning tech and more.
These multi-session, free virtual conferences give you fresh perspectives and best practices from executives at leading companies in the training industry.
SRINI PILLAY, M.D.
There is a widespread misconception surrounding skills training. That is, if you are determined to learn it, you’ll succeed. This is what the conscious brain tells us — but the conscious brain is not the primary driver of skills development.
Other unconscious factors play a far greater role. Without training for the unconscious mindset shifts needed for skills development, skills acquisition becomes slow and unproductive, costing you time and money.
I’d argue that ignoring the brain’s unconscious drivers of learning is the number-one reason skills training fails. Below are some factors to consider.
Let’s say that your team needs to learn a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool. While it may be essential, focusing solely on the task of learning is shortsighted. The selfish goal theory states that the brain has two operating layers: one that pays attention to the goal, but a far more powerful layer of automatic processes that couldn’t care less. Your unconscious mind will either weigh you down or boost your motivation.
YOUR UNCONSCIOUS MIND WILL EITHER WEIGH YOU DOWN OR BOOST YOUR MOTIVATION WHEN TRYING TO ACQUIRE A NEW SKILL.
Consider the personal challenges that might unconsciously work against you or your team. Old habits die hard. Teaching someone a new approach to something
they’ve done the same way for years will trigger immediate resistance. Tap into their selfish, unconscious brain to show why the new approach benefits them. Have them complete the task the old way, then after learning the new approach, demonstrate how much time it saves. Ask how they’d use this extra time. Now their brains become less resistant.
Thomas Edison famously said, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” Even at 1%, inspiration is incredibly powerful.
A 2024 study by Jia Hao and colleagues showed that inspiration helps people turn both positive and negative emotions into active coping and problem-solving, especially in adversity. Teaching practices that foster autonomy and highlight the importance of learning — shown by Valenzuela et al. (2024) to enhance motivation — can also trigger inspiration. Other factors like skills, mindset and opportunity matter, too. Practice gets you to the door, but inspiration and motivation give you the energy to walk through it.
Successful people often attribute their success to grit, not realizing that grit doesn’t pay off equally for every person. Think of adjunct professors juggling multiple classes for low pay, artists creating for years without recognition or small business owners grinding through 80-hour weeks only to close shop. Hard work alone doesn’t guarantee success.
In fact, a study of over 66,000 people found that grit has only a modest link to
success and overlaps heavily with traits like organization and responsibility. Even the most valuable aspect of grit, perseverance, only makes a small difference, and trying to “boost grit” doesn’t move the needle much.
In my book, “Tinker Dabble Doodle Try,” I explain how strategic unfocused time helps people conserve brain energy, spark creativity and spot new possibilities. For example, positive constructive daydreaming — letting your mind wander while walking or doodling — can lead to creativity and insight.
Other unconscious factors also matter. Change resistance and mental inflexibility can hinder skills development. If you’re not addressing these, you will likely waste time and money on your skills development initiatives.
Consider that one in four firms spend more than 20-30% of their operating costs on change programs — with little lasting impact if unconscious resistance goes unaddressed. Global estimates suggest employee disengagement and poor change adaptation cost the economy $9.6 trillion, or 9% of global GDP.
By integrating mindset shifts and targeting the real drivers of resistance before training begins, leaders can ensure investments in skills development translate into lasting performance gains and measurable business impact.
Dr. Srini Pillay is the CEO of NeuroBusiness Group. He is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and neuroscientist, on the Consortium for Learning Innovation at McKinsey & Company, and author of “Tinker Dabble Doodle Try.” Srini is also co-founder, chief medical officer and chief learning officer of Reulay. Email Srini.
Last year, over of new CPTMs surveyed agreed that earning their CPTM credential increased their confidence at work. 90%
2025 marks 10 years since the launch of Training Industry’s Certified Professional in Training Management (CPTM™) program, the only certification focused on helping learning leaders strategically align training initiatives with business goals.
9 out of 10 CPTMs
have been able to apply the concepts they learned to their job role.
Over 2,000
L&D professionals certified across:
Over 50 Countries
The CPTM program is designed to fit your busy schedule with a blended approach of self-paced prework for flexibility and a live, real-world application-based practicum that you’ll attend alongside other L&D professionals virtually or in person.
1 in 3 CPTMs
received a salary increase or promotion within one year of certifying.
All Industry Sectors
Get started on your professional development journey with CPTM!
For years, the prevailing message in career development has been clear: Employees own their careers. Leaders support them. It’s a sentiment that gained traction in an era when roles were relatively stable, development followed a logical trajectory and success could be tracked in movement around the org chart.
Back then, “owning your career” made sense. Employees could reasonably plan five years out. They studied career paths, knew what came next and how to get there. The workplace offered a sense of predictability that enabled ownership.
Welcome to 2025 and a very different reality. Today, roles evolve constantly. Skills expire quickly. Career paths zigzag, vanish or branch in unexpected directions. What worked yesterday is often irrelevant today and antiquated tomorrow.
That’s why it’s time to shift from a model built on predictability to one designed for adaptability — one rooted in career agency.
FROM OWNERSHIP TO AGENCY: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
Agency goes beyond ownership by empowering individuals to not just be responsible for career outcomes but to actively shape them through intentional, information-rich choices and actions. Career agency redefines development as emergent, co-created, responsive and aligned with real-time realities.
Let’s take a look at the differences:
• Development via setting goals and following paths
• Planning-focused: “Where do you want to be in 5 years?”
• Negotiating for organizationally rationed (but known) resources
• Learning designed by the organization
• Personalized development powered by your needs
• Development via experimentation, iteration and evolution
• Design-focused: “What’s emerging, and how can we build on it?”
• Seizing embedded opportunities and self-sourced resources
• Growth designed with you
• Adaptive, experiences powered in real time by data and dialogue
Employees today are forging a new relationship with their careers and their development. They’re seeking not just advancement, but alignment — work that fits their values, energizes them and allows them to make meaningful contributions.
They’re building skills in real time, across projects, roles, and frequently outside the organization. And let’s face it: With managers stretched thin, employees must do all of this with considerable autonomy.
Agency represents a step beyond ownership — one that helps employees build self-awareness, embrace ambiguity and engage with their growth in ways that feel personal, relevant and future-forward.
Learning and development (L&D) professionals play a critical role in turning
this concept into a reality. Here’s how to support the shift.
Befriend uncertainty: Predictability is an artifact of the past. People can no longer wait for the new or next “normal.” It’s time to teach everyone to dance with the eternal “never normal,” and embrace the unpredictable nature of today’s careers. This activates agency, fueling curiosity, confidence and sense of possibility.
Distribute the data: Empower employees by ensuring access to real-time insights. Share organizational results openly, help people analyze the landscape and offer performance feedback generously. Sharing data helps individuals make informed, adaptive development decisions instead of waiting for direction.
Promote design over planning: Inspire employees to move beyond static planning. Career frameworks that felt fresh just a few years ago, may fall short today. Instead, offer tools like career canvases or reflection guides that help employees capture and act on what’s emerging — new interests, opportunities and work that is giving them energy.
While the dynamic and unpredictable nature of today’s workplace may feel challenging, it also opens the door to next-level growth. Career agency isn’t just a development strategy. It’s a mindset that cultivates adaptability, engagement, innovation at every level and a more agile, resilient and futureready workforce.
Julie Winkle Giulioni is the author of the bestselling books, “Promotions Are SO Yesterday” and “Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go.” Email Julie.
Our experts think global-first so they can easily consult, transform and translate your eLearning content - no matter the size or scale.
We understand cultural, technological and accessibility nuances worldwide to ensure you and your learners are set up for success right from the get-go.
Next-level global eLearning starts here rws.com/elearning
BY COURTNEY JOHNSON WASYLENKO, CPTD
After World War II, training in the manufacturing industry heavily leaned on the Training Within Industry (TWI) and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) methodologies, which focus on hands-on learning and physical asset management. Training often consisted of what you could learn from veterans on the shop floor and a rarely opened, dusty binder filled with standards sitting on the manufacturing line. A lot has changed since then. The rise of computers, mobile applications, and the cloud changed everything. Now manufacturing faces a crisis of training methods that
THE SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS EVERY SITE RELIES ON, THE ONES WHO REALLY RUN THE BUSINESS, ARE A POPULATION BEGGING FOR DEVELOPMENT AND OPPORTUNITIES
are increasingly outdated butting against employees’ expectations for digitalization, gamification and in-the-moment access.
In 10 manufacturing facilities, you’ll find just as many approaches to knowledge management, learning systems and data sharing. As companies work to update their training practices, methods can range from fully digital to papers posted on a bulletin board. The issue often boils down to a lack of time to digitalize those dusty binders or build engaging courses. When the ultimate goal is cases out of the door, investments in training technology can take a back seat. Add into the mix another dilemma — an incredible shortage of talent and a rush to capture knowledge before that talent retires or finds another job.
The manufacturing environment is a case study in VUCA:
• The volatility of generational work preferences and staffing challenges.
• The uncertainty of being able to fill vacancies with skilled technicians as manufacturing moves toward automation and robotics, requiring a different skill set.
• The complexity of changing technology and a diverse workforce from front-line technicians to factory leaders, all with varying access to tools and technology.
• The ambiguity of how to enable learning when the direction from the learning evangelists applies more often to a corporate environment.
Faced with the approach of a 1.9 million employee shortage by 2033, learning leaders are balancing on a precarious see-saw. At one end, they are frantically working to capture knowledge from tenured employees, and on the other end, they are tasked with constant new employee onboarding and training. The balancing act is not working. Fortunately, learning leaders can work to balance that see-saw and prepare to train the new manufacturing workforce with a few simple solutions.
Anyone who owns a smartphone knows there is no reason to wait for information. The availability and evolution of knowledge does not stop when an employee walks on the factory floor. Employees expect fast and consistent information. Learning is not happening in a classroom, because no one has time for employees to leave the floor to learn, and operational leaders cannot surrender employees to full-day workshops. Even an hour off the floor can have profound consequences for production and the bottom line.
Manufacturing requires solutions that are sensitive to the environment and provide learning to fit the workplace. Digital microlearning or one-pagers
Learning leaders in manufacturing are facing more uncertainty than ever. With persistent supply chain disruptions and a shifting workforce, many are left asking: What happened to training as we knew it — and where do we go from here? Without the right tools or technology, finding answers can feel out of reach. It’s time to invest in accessible, adaptive training that meets the needs of today’s workforce.
deployed through tablets on the floor can offer a fantastic way for learning in the moment, where work occurs, with minimal negative impact to production. If performance support is not available at the moment of need, no one is looking for it. Much like water and electricity, employees will take the path of least resistance — either do the best they can with what they have or not do it at all. No one is looking for an expert, searching a system or flipping through the old dusty binder to figure out how to perform a task.
Adopt the mindset of video creators and influencers. Invest in tablets and put them where workers need them most, which is on the floor at the line. Encourage employees to create videos of tasks and troubleshooting events then build a searchable digital library No fancy tools needed, just a tablet to record and a library to save. Lean into simple digital documents. Digital does not need to be fancy or complex. Use simple tools and encourage employees to do what they already do — live a digital life. Soon the team will have a library of resources at their fingertips, exactly where they want it.
The 2024 Manufacturing Workforce Trends Survey by the Manufacturers Alliance found that turnover for manufacturing employees was at 26.3%. Over a quarter of the workforce is leaving. Whether internal or external, staffing changes leave a painful hole in the workforce and a challenge for training. The high turn of manufacturing means constantly training new employees and managing cross-training plans. The challenge compounds when you consider that the time to gain competency for complex equipment can take upwards of a year and the knowledge-sharing systems are non-existent or immature.
Intensifying the complexity of training and turn, a recent LinkedIn survey found that 85% of employees are thinking of moving to a new role. A perceived lack of opportunities for employees can lead to low engagement, becoming a danger to consistent operations.
Combat the pain of high turnover through a culture of constant knowledge capture and systematic approaches that build training into the work. When implementing a new standard, sustainable training packages must be part of the strategy. Learning representation during every loss analysis event is crucial for training
and knowledge capture to become an organic, integrated part of the process. With this culture of continuous improvement, no opportunity passes without the creation of learning. Over time, a system of training emerges that is fully sustainable.
When it comes to disengagement and flight risks, review the culture of upskilling and opportunities for employees who may not really desire a brand-new role, but an elevation of their current role. The subject matter experts every site relies on, the ones who really run the business, are a population begging for development and opportunities. Help this group of experts contribute in meaningful ways by using their influence to inspire peers, document best practices and build the learning culture. Keep developing those experts through higher level training opportunities and prestigious programs that utilize their talent while also providing a real-life skill building moment and internal movement.
Learning leaders sometimes find themselves delving deep into a topic because they love learning and expect that everyone else does too. This bias causes learning authors to include too much extraneous information leading to increased cognitive load, potentially triggering disengagement for the learner and a negative impression of training. Further, a course with all the bells and whistles might not accurately reflect the true working environment. Instead, focus on what learners need to know, when they need to know it and how they tap into learning that accurately reflects their work.
Look for solutions to meet learners where they are with information they need, when they need it to keep employees engaged. Make it easy to see the applicability of knowledge and transfer the information into skills. Learning and performance support
should meet the needs of a fast paced and ever-changing environment by being agile and rooted in reality. Support the essentials: learn the task, do the task, perfect the task and excel at the task. Focus on skilling an employee for competence at the job, and learning will shift to an approach that matches the pace of modern manufacturing.
Implement a strategy that supports employees and places them in charge of learning. Create learning plans with specific job-related activities, realtime feedback, deadlines with goals, options for deeper learning as needed and customized paths that avoid the dreaded “click to continue” or forced navigation. Eliminate the fluff, provide appropriate guidance and trust that learners will take the right
steps. Give learners goals and tap into their internal motivation for adding value. Then reap the benefits of an engaged workforce.
In the VUCA world of manufacturing, new flashy learning technology is not the most effective approach. Support the workforce through modern solutions, not complexity. Mirror the technology used in real life, be ready for staffing changes with agile learning and ensure employees have access to performance support that helps them contribute in meaningful ways. The easiest way to engage and inspire is to meet learners where they are. Because in a world that is moving toward digitalization, artificial intelligence (AI) and robots, remember that people are still at the center of it all.
Courtney Johnson Wasylenko, CPTD, is the Americas Supply Chain Training and Development Leader at McCormick & Company, Inc. Email Courtney.
• Tackle the Global Skills Crisis Head-On
• Aligning Learning and Development with Evolving Workforce Needs
• Younger Generations Want to Change Jobs: Here’s How to Keep Them
Tune in to Training Industry’s award-winning podcast to hear conversations with industry experts on topics pertaining to the modern learning and development (L&D) professional.
Enjoying the podcast? Let us know! Leave a review on your favorite podcast app.
Have an idea for a future episode, or would you like to be considered as a guest speaker? Email us at editor@trainingindustry.com.
BY JOSEPH GRENNY
Feedback, criticism, critique — whatever it may be called, receiving an assessment of yourself can be tough to hear. Negative feedback can feel like having a mirror held up to all your deepest insecurities. Establish Clear Success Criteria.
Does feedback get any easier to hear when it’s said with a smile, kind words or a gentle tone?
In a recent study, “How to Handle Tough Feedback,” my colleagues and I sought to understand whether people would respond differently to feedback given harshly versus nicely. On the harsh end of the spectrum, some of the comments that respondents reported receiving included:
• “You are an evil person. You are a thief. You are scum.”
• “Think about leaving — I need warriors not wimps.”
• “You look great on a resume, but not so great on the job.”
Shockingly, while 90% of respondents said they were surprised to receive such
harsh feedback, only 15% reacted with feelings of anger or resentment. The most common response was either silence or forced politeness. Harsh feedback simply shut people down, at least for a moment.
What if feedback is given nicely? Would people welcome feedback if it were delivered in a more compassionate way? The answer is no — our study found that no matter how well the feedback was delivered, it still left a painful and lasting impression. It was still hard to hear.
Now, some of the comments above veered into bullying territory. There is no room for bullying in the workplace, or any place for that matter. But negative feedback — even when work appropriate and delivered nicely — can sting. Any time another person holds us accountable, we are likely to bristle to some degree.
But we must remember that feedback is a gift. Without the ability to share it freely and receive it openly, emotions can get buried, growth may stagnate and relationships risk becoming increasingly fragile. If you want to be more receptive to truthful feedback at
RATHER THAN SHUTTING DOWN OR TAKING OFFENSE, LOOK FOR THE TRUTH IN THE FEEDBACK.
work, regardless of how it’s delivered, consider these tips:
Safety is an essential psychological need. Whenever we believe our safety is threatened, we respond with fight, flight or freeze. Of course, if you find yourself in physical danger, get out of the situation. But when someone is giving us work-appropriate feedback and holding us accountable, we are completely safe. It is our pride that’s at risk, not our safety.
When it comes to psychological safety, we often assume others are responsible for it, and the default reaction is to take offense. But remember — you’re in charge of your own feelings. You’re responsible for your own psychological safety.
As our research highlighted, it doesn’t really matter if the person giving you feedback is doing so nicely or harshly. It’s your reaction to it that matters. Rather than shutting down or taking offense, look for the truth in the feedback. The motive of others holding you accountable is irrelevant. How you learn and grow from it is what matters.
Another essential psychological need is a sense of self-worth. Too often we derive a sense of self-worth from external sources — jobs, salary, social standing, material possessions and so on. Then, when someone reveals
While feedback, even tough feedback, can be helpful, bullying is a different matter. When you need to deal with a workplace bully, consider trying the following:
• Reverse your thinking. Most of us suffer in silence because all we consider are the risks of speaking up. Instead, think first about the risks of NOT speaking up. Changing the order of the risk assessment makes you much more likely to take action.
• Facts first. Present your information as if talking to a jury. Stick with the facts. Strip out any judgmental or provocative language and be specific.
• Share natural consequences. Let them know the consequences of handling their concerns in a bullying way, including the negative impacts to you, others, customers, projects, etc.
• Hold boundaries. Let them know how you expect to be treated in the future and let them know what your next step will be if there is a recurrence.
our shortcomings, the house of cards known as our self-worth crumbles.
Instead, develop a sense of selfworth built on self-respect. One way to improve self-respect is to develop good values and live them. You can detach the words, however they were delivered, from the truth you need to become better. It’s not easy, but it’s vitally important.
In addition to taking responsibility for your safety and sense of self-worth, consider going through the following steps to help better respond to feedback: think CURE.
If harsh feedback catches you off guard, have a way to collect yourself. One good way is to breathe deeply and slowly. Pause to pay attention to how you are feeling — you may be hurt, scared, embarrassed or ashamed. Use this moment to remind yourself that you are safer than you think. Avoid rushing to judgment or action. Simply collect yourself and the feedback.
FEEDBACK IS A GIFT. WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO SHARE IT FREELY AND RECEIVE IT OPENLY, GROWTH MAY STAGNATE.
understand where the person giving the feedback is coming from. Perhaps there are factors or points of view you haven’t considered before. Simply act like a good reporter trying to understand the story of an informant.
In some situations, it’s often best to simply exit the conversation. Explain that you want time to reflect and that you will respond later. Say something like, “It’s important to me that I get this right. I need some time. I’ll get back to you when I’m ready to respond.” Give yourself permission to feel and recover from the experience before evaluating what you heard. You don’t have to agree or disagree with the feedback in the moment. Take time to sincerely reflect and decide on your next actions.
Examine what you were told. If you’ve done a good job taking responsibility for your safety and worth, you’ll improve your natural reaction to feedback. Rather than poking holes in it, you’ll look for truth. Even if the feedback is 90% fluff and 10% substance, look for the substance. There is almost always at least a kernel of truth in what people are telling you. When you’re ready, engage with the person who shared the feedback and acknowledge what you heard, what you accept and what you’ll commit to do.
Next, listen. Ask questions. Ask for examples. Get curious. Detach yourself from what is being said as though it is being said about a third person. That will help you bypass the urge to evaluate what you’re hearing. You’ll stop worrying about whether it’s true or false. Instead, you’ll gain more information with which to
Strong relationships both inside and outside of work are often based on three things: truth, respect and connection. Ask yourself, are my work relationships lacking in truth? Are my colleagues and I unwilling and unable to share with each other how we honestly feel and what our real needs are? Use the advice above to foster more truth in your work relationships — truth you can use to reshape yourself for the better.
Joseph Grenny is a New York Times bestselling author, world-renowned speaker, and co-founder of Crucial Learning, a provider of corporate learning solutions. Email Joseph.
Every year, I join CrossFitters around the U.S. in a hero workout called Murph. This workout memorializes U.S. Navy Seal Lieutenant Michael Murphy who died in Afghanistan. It’s meant to be tough. The Murph workout includes a one-mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 pushups, 300 air squats and another one-mile run … all in a weighted vest.
The first year I participated, I did ring rows because I couldn’t yet do a pull up. And I split the workout with a friend, so we each did half the reps. We did not wear a vest.
The next year, I did jumping pull ups. Again, I split it with a friend, no vest.
The third year, I finally had my pull ups, so I did the whole thing, but still no weighted vest.
Why am I telling you this? I couldn’t train for Murph the exact same way each year. I was doing different movements. I had different expectations. I had to train differently.
The same is true for our organizations. We have new technology (hello, artificial intelligence), new policies and new expectations. So, we can’t rely on the same “training.”
Instead, we have to up-level our skills development strategy to meet the needs of our modern workforce. The question then becomes: How?
In my work with nonprofits, I use the 5S method — sales, scope, science, signals and self.
• Sales refers to how we work with our stakeholders and subject matter experts.
• Scope refers to the amount of change we are trying to create.
• Science refers to the learning science and behavior change principles that are often overlooked in talent strategies.
• Signals refers to measurement and evaluation.
• Self refers to how we develop our own skills and mindset to do this work.
I want to share three of those Ss with you today in the context of building your skills development strategy.
If you’ve ever created a training program, you know what happens. Everyone wants to include every
single detail they can think of to fix every single problem. The scope — the purpose of the training — becomes messy and unclear.
Instead, we must be clear about what our skills development strategy will deliver, and what it won’t.
We need to define the project scope. This is one S in my 5S method.
To do this, we need to ask ourselves and our project team questions like:
• What will this skills development strategy do for us?
• Why are we creating it? What is the driving force behind it?
• What does success look like?
For example, you might have a new organizational strategy that will require new skills. That’s the driving force. So, your goal will be to align skills with that strategy so your employees can be intentionally developed with the skills they need to execute that strategy. Success is when employees can clearly show they have developed those skills, and performance is changed.
You can use these answers to help define what is in scope for the project and what isn’t. For instance, a new skill related to conflict resolution might not be relevant if it isn’t part of the organization’s strategy, but a new skill about turning data into stories might be.
Defining the scope is an important step because we know that most organizational change fails. And a new skills development strategy? It’s a change initiative.
BJ Fogg, author of “Tiny Habits,” says if we want to create a behavior change, we have to make that change tiny. I believe
the same is true for our organizations. Maybe it won’t be “tiny,” but it should be clear and specific — not a catchall like we see in so many trainings.
Once we have the scope defined as a project team, we can start to bring other people into the process. That is, you can start to engage your employees.
I recommend engaging employees in the process for two reasons:
1. People don’t like change when it’s done to them, but they are much more receptive when it is done by them. They want to feel like they are part of the process. Involving them creates buy-in.
2. It’s hard to identify skills that need to be developed without talking to the people who are implementing the skills. Your staff knows what it takes to get the work done. They have lived experiences and expertise that can help you define what those skills look like in action. Your doctor wouldn’t prescribe you medication without observing you or listening to your symptoms. We shouldn’t prescribe a skills development strategy without hearing from the people who have firsthand experience doing the work.
You can use this information to create the strategy.
Here are some recommendations on what to include in your strategy:
• The skills your organization will focus on and for what amount of time
• What each of those skills looks like when performed well
• Of those skills, which are top priority for which audiences
• How you will develop those skills
• How you will measure success
How you will develop the skills in your strategy is a core component of the strategy itself. No one likes a strategy that sits on a (digital) shelf.
This is where I see a lot of organizations get stuck: How do we roll this out? What do we prioritize? How do we develop the skills we identified?
When rolling out a new strategy, it’s helpful to create a comprehensive communication plan. This often means creating a one-page summary of the strategy that can be shared to socialize the new strategy. It also means creating emails that are segmented by audience. What do executives need to know or do? What do supervisors need to know or do? What do individual contributors need
to know or do? Often, these groups have different responsibilities and will use the strategy in different ways. This tailored communication creates continued buy-in and awareness about the strategy.
Additionally, conduct small group discussions about the strategy. For example, you can bring together a small diverse group of leaders to discuss how the skills will be used in performance and career discussions. This allows leaders to imagine themselves using the strategy in their daily work.
In addition, use a phased approach to introduce the skills development strategy. Identify an audience you want to start with — for example, first-line supervisors — and determine what and how you will implement the strategy with them.
Once you’ve established how you will roll out the strategy, you’ll also need to identify how you will prioritize the work. This might be based on the goals that are most urgent for your organization. It might be a needs assessment where staff identify how important a skill is and how confident they are in implementing that skill.
While there are many ways to identify priorities, the important thing is knowing what you will focus on when and for whom.
So often, training involves sitting in a classroom, listening to a talking head and returning to your work environment unable to implement anything you were taught.
Instead, we need to rely on learning science and behavior change principles to create employee development solutions.
For example, review the skills in your strategy. Can any of them be easily implemented with a checklist or other resource? If so, start there, and then if needed, create a training program that teaches employees to use that tool. Our brains can only remember so much information. Creating a tool gives employees an easy point of reference that clarifies performance expectations and helps them use the skill in the moment.
Remember, to change behavior, your employees will need a prompt — something to remind them to use the skill, a desire to make the change — what’s in it for them, and a reward. All of these things cannot be solved with training alone. This is why science is another S in the 5S method.
One mistake I often see organizations make is creating a skills development strategy and never revisiting it. We need to view the strategy as an evolving strategy.
• What we create the first time might not work. We need to look for signals — another S in the 5S method. We need to measure as we implement so we can adapt in the future.
• The world and the workplace never stops changing. We need to remain agile so we can adapt our strategy on an ongoing basis.
Heather Burright, founder of Skill Masters Market, combines her heart for people with her instructional design experience and individual and organizational change principles to give nonprofits and associations the training their mission deserves and the tools to implement it effectively. You can find her in her private community — the Nonprofit L&D Collective, on LinkedIn and through her podcast Learning for Good. Email Heather.
Gallup’s 2024 Employee Engagement Survey reveals the lowest workforce engagement in 10 years
Since 2000, the annual survey has measured 12 elements of employee engagement such as clarity of expectations, the feeling that someone cares about them at work and having someone at work who encourages their development — each of these showed significant declines last year.
This trend presents a unique challenge for learning and development (L&D) professionals: How does one address the gap between skills that are necessary for business success when employee engagement is at an all-time low?
Boosting soft skills in two key areas of communication, active listening and feedback, could help learning leaders turn a disengaged workforce into one that takes an active role in continuous improvement — ultimately leading to better performance and increased retention.
By Julia M. Babij, M.S., CPCC
Let’s take a look at some common symptoms of communication conflict and the ways active listening and feedback can ease the pain.
In some cases, workplace conflict can actually be healthy. Unhealthy workplace conflict, on the other hand, usually stems from a lack of communication, and for that, there may be several contributing factors:
• Generational differences: A recent survey from ResumeBuilder.com revealed that 74% of managers found Gen Z employees challenging to work with, compared to earlier generations. In some ways, this is natural; as newer generations enter the workforce, there is a gap between generational ideals and approaches to work. When that happens, those in leadership roles, who are typically from earlier generations, find younger generations more difficult to work with. They may
not understand their approach, and clear communication is not occurring.
• Difference in personality type. The popular Myers-Briggs assessment outlines 16 different personality types — each with their own unique communication and conflict resolution styles.
Listening is not only hearing what is being said, but also taking in the tone, the speed, the word choice and other inputs that add meaning behind the words.
• Difference in leadership style. When there is a disconnect between how a leader approaches their team and the
Feedback is a two-way street. The giver and receiver of feedback both have important roles.
team members’ expectations, conflict can occur. For example, a team member who values trust and a hand in decisionmaking within the team with a leader whose style is making all decisions without any input.
• Differences in communication preference. There is not a onesize-fits-all approach to effective communication. Understanding common communication preferences can help you collaborate with and support others on your team.
• Fear. Fear of feedback (also widely known as “constructive criticism”) and an individual’s fear of others’ perception of them may result in a communication shut down.
Generally speaking, unhealthy workplace conflict results from a lack of understanding. Overcoming these challenges is possible, but not always prioritized in today’s “pace over perfection” work environment.
That’s why active listening and effective feedback are so important to help mitigate any potential unhealthy workplace conflict.
Active listening is not only hearing — but also understanding — what is being said by another person. In work environments where active listening is practiced, employees can feel engaged,
empowered, and more willing to stay with their employer. In fact, a Salesforce report on the impact of values-driven businesses found that employees who feel heard at work are 4.6 times more likely to perform their best.
There are three components of active listening:
1. Listening. This may seem simple, but there is a difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is just that: merely hearing what is being said. Listening is not only hearing what is being said, but also taking in the tone, the speed, the word choice and other inputs that add meaning behind the words.
2. Empathy. The next component is empathy. Understanding the speed, tone and words gives you clues on what the other person is feeling. Empathy is just that: feeling and understanding, even for a short moment, where a person is coming from.
3. Clarification. One of the biggest pitfalls of ineffective communication I’ve seen in the workplace is not seeking clarification. Simply acknowledging your understanding of what the other person is saying and ensuring it is correct can go a long way toward avoiding unhealthy conflict.
Perhaps you’ve seen this in your own organization: Someone will rattle off information, ask “Does that make sense?”
and the other person nods (even if they don’t understand). One person thinks the information was processed and the task is being completed, the other is clueless — and probably panicking. This common scenario breeds unhealthy conflict, mismatched expectations, poor communication, and time wasted.
Clarification solves this issue with one quick, simple formula: “What I hear you saying is ‘x.’ Do I have that right?”
Contrary to what some people think, asking for clarity does not make either party seem as if they were not listening; it’s quite the opposite. Taking a quick moment to understand what is being said gets everyone on the same page and work completed more efficiently.
The next component of a communicationpositive workplace is effective feedback. But first, one common myth must be dispelled:
Myth: Feedback is “constructive criticism.”
Fact: Feedback is not criticism. Feedback is merely information.
The guise of feedback being “constructive criticism” is a misnomer with well-meaning intentions; the intention being that feedback will help a person grow. In fact, that is true.
The issue, however, lies within the combination of the words “constructive” and “criticism.” Criticism rarely helps with workplace growth and development.
Instead, reframe the concept.
What feedback IS:
• Merely information.
• Objective, not subjective. It is not based on opinion; rather, it is based on information related to observable behaviors.
• Supportive, not punitive. Remember best intentions. The goal of giving feedback is to help someone grow and develop. It is not a means to “go after” someone based on a misunderstood perception of the person.
• In terms of healthy communication, feedback is a two-way street. The giver and receiver of feedback both have important roles. The feedback giver provides information, but the receiver also has an opportunity to
either accept or reject what’s being said or ask for more clarification.
What feedback IS NOT:
• A way to demean someone.
• A quick, dismissive conversation where one assumes the receiver understood exactly what was said.
• A sandwich, also known as “compliment-criticism-compliment.” While the intention is to soften the blow of negative feedback, it can obscure the message and opportunities for professional development.
Now let’s bring what we know about active listening and feedback together. Here are six ways to become a more effective communicator in the workplace:
Effective communication rests on being prepared. When there’s a need to have a conversation, consider the following steps:
• Prepare: What do you want to say? Write it down first and revise as necessary, especially if emotionally charged. Not only will this help structure the conversation, but it will help reduce communicating based on emotion rather than fact.
• Find time: No multitasking here. Finding “distraction minimal” time gives all parties the space to focus on the conversation at hand, rather than on distracting tasks.
• Have the conversation: Communication is a two-way street. Give each other the ability to actively listen, give feedback, and clarify what may be misunderstood.
• Check in: Check in after the conversation to ensure effectiveness and provide opportunities for further clarification if needed.
• Repeat: Now that you know how to plan and conduct effective workplace communication, repeat the process. Over time, the process becomes ingrained and easy to employ.
1. When you are the one communicating: Remember that conversations work both ways. Ensure the listener understands you by checking in.
2. Actively listen: Use your senses to understand what’s being said. Listen for tone, word choice, speed of words and other clues. This leads to empathy and a deeper understanding of what the person is feeling.
3. When someone is communicating with you: Clarify. State what you’re hearing and ensure the other person is understood by asking, “Have I got that right?” They will tell you whether you did, or whether they need to provide clarification.
4. When giving feedback, be prepared: Gather factual information, be specific and make the most of the conversation by making feedback relevant to specific, observable behaviors.
5. Give feedback as close to the situation as possible, but not when you are upset: Allow time and space to rationally organize information and give the most balanced opportunities for development.
6. Be open: Active listening requires that you are receptive to what the other person has to say. Asking clarifying questions means letting go of the fear of feeling like you do not understand. Staying open to more effective communication strategies in the workplace can improve efficiency, cut down on miscommunication and misunderstandings and, best of all, resolve conflict before it even starts.
While conflict in the workplace cannot be entirely avoided and can sometimes be healthy, employing simple, effective techniques like active listening and effective feedback ensures negative and unhealthy workplace communication can be positively mitigated.
Julia M. Babij, M.S., CPCC is a career coach and fractional corporate trainer, specializing in active listening and effective feedback in the workplace. She is the founder of Purpose Geek Solutions, LLC Email Julia.
By Kathleen Carr
The types of skills that enable employees today are not the ones they’ll need tomorrow. Staying competitive requires a clear understanding of your organization’s current capabilities and the skills needed to get ahead. At the pace of technology change today, that’s a daunting task. Fortunately, you’re not operating in the dark; skill data offers insights into the capabilities of employees, enabling organizations to make informed decisions about talent development, learning programs and overall learning strategy.
This article explores how organizations can unlock the power of skill data to enhance learning and development (L&D) programs, refine strategies based on adoption data, measure the return on investment (ROI) of skill development initiatives and embed new insights into daily actions.
To make skill data actionable, you must first understand the current skill landscape within your organization and your industry. It can also be helpful to look for trends outside of your industry to gain insights that might apply to your own or spark creative thinking.
one-third of workers analyzed had foundational digital skills needed to succeed. This research highlights a significant gap between employer expectations and the digital skills available in the labor market.
Another study from the BusinessHigher Education Forum (BHEF) and Burning Glass Technologies analyzed more than 56 million resumes and 150 million unique U.S. job postings to identify essential skills for the digital economy. This research found that human skills such as critical thinking and communication, digital skills such as data analysis and software development, and business enabler skills such as project management and digital design are all in high demand as roles become more digital.
Once you’ve identified skill gaps within your organization, the next step is to align your company’s learning programs to address those needs.
To effectively leverage the skill data you find:
• Map skills to roles : Identify the specific skills required for each role within your organization. This mapping will help you build targeted learning paths.
As an example, let’s look at digital skills, which research indicates are in demand across nearly all industries. According to the National Skills Coalition, 92% of jobs now require at least some digital skills, yet only
By conducting a thorough assessment of your organization’s current skill set and comparing it with industry benchmarks, you can identify gaps and make plans for development. This understanding will become the foundation of your targeted L&D strategy.
• Build personalized learning paths: Create customized learning programs that map to the individual needs of your employees, focusing on bridging those identified skill gaps.
• Choose platforms that provide data: Implement learning management systems that provide analytics on skill development progress. This will enable you to modify learning programs as needed.
• Encourage continuous learning: Foster a culture of continuous learning by providing employees with access to resources that promote skill enhancement. A learning culture includes elements such as dedicated time to engage in learning, reimbursement for training programs and manager encouragement.
To ensure the effectiveness of learning programs, it’s important to continuously monitor and refine them by leveraging adoption and performance data. According to the 2025 LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report, L&D professionals measure the business impact of career development programs through employee engagement, retention, promotions, internal mobility and other indicators.
Key strategies to refine learning programs include:
• Track engagement metrics: Monitor participation rates, completion rates and feedback to assess the relevance and effectiveness of learning content.
• Assess skill acquisition: Use assessments and evaluations to determine if employees are acquiring
the skills you hoped they would. If you trust the content you use and training partners you work with, completion is also a good metric of skill attainment.
• Analyze performance outcomes: Evaluate the impact of skill development on job performance, productivity and business outcomes.
• Update content regularly: Regularly update learning materials to reflect changing standards and emerging skill requirements in your own industry.
When you dig into adoption data, you can make informed decisions to enhance the quality and impact of your learning programs.
Demonstrating the ROI of skills development initiatives is essential for securing continued broad company support and resources.
To measure ROI:
• Define clear objectives: Establish specific, measurable goals for learning programs, such as improving productivity, reducing turnover or enhancing customer satisfaction.
• Collect baseline data: Gather data on key performance indicators before implementing learning initiatives so that you can measure improvement.
• Monitor progress: Continuously track the progress of learning programs against established goals.
• Analyze outcomes: Assess the impact of skill development on business outcomes, considering factors such as increased efficiency, higher employee engagement and improved financial performance.
• Report findings: Communicate the results to stakeholders, and, if all is working according to plan, you’ll be able to clearly show the value derived from investing in skill development.
By systematically measuring ROI, organizations can demonstrate the tangible benefits of their learning programs and make data-driven decisions for future initiatives.
Turning skill data into results isn’t just about having the right dashboards. It’s
about embedding newfound insights into your daily decisions, aligning teams around shared goals and building feedback loops that evolve with you.
An effective skill data strategy requires shared ownership across teams. Here’s who should be involved — and what they should take on:
HR/Talent manageme nt:
• Develop skill frameworks
• Integrate into performance reviews
• Oversee reskilling/upskilling strategy
L&D teams:
• Map learning content to skill gaps
• Create learning pathways
• Track engagement and outcomes
People analytics/HRIS:
• Maintain accurate skill data
• Build dashboards
• Deliver insights to stakeholders
Business leaders/managers:
• Validate in-demand skills
• Identify team-level gaps
• Support application of learning on the job
Employees:
• Self-assess skills
• Engage with learning content
• Apply skills to real work and career planning
for you will depend on your needs and skills sophistication, but look for a true partner who can fill the gaps you have — whether that’s in technology or in analytics.
To truly turn skill data into action, you need to shift behaviors across the organization. That means aligning leaders, managers and employees around a shared purpose and creating systems that support new ways of working.
Here are a few practical guideposts to increase your chance of success:
• Executive champions : Find a partner in upskilling. Secure at least one senior leader who will communicate the value of skill development regularly.
• Manager toolkits: Equip managers with talking points and data reports to support their skill-supporting conversations.
milestones or apply learning to create business value.
The more you treat skills as a shared currency across your organization, the easier it becomes to align learning with growth — and your people with newly skilled purpose.
Incorporating skill data into organizational strategies enables businesses to proactively address skill gaps, align learning programs with strategic objectives, refine initiatives based on data insights and measure the impact of skill development efforts. Organizations that use skill data effectively build a resilient, adaptable workforce capable of thriving in an ever-changing business environment.
Kathleen Carr is the senior director of partnership success and product strategy at SkillsWave, where she leverages her expertise in driving results and developing innovative learning products. With a strong focus on connecting targeted upskilling content with corporations, she leads the client success team and collaborates closely with corporate learning and development teams to create accessible learning experiences at scale. Email Kathleen.
If this seems too daunting to tackle on your own — you don’t have to. There are several platforms, tools and marketplaces that have sprung up in this space to help. The best choice
• Internal communications campaigns: Brand your upskilling initiative with a recognizable name and story. Keep updates regular and clear.
• Reward and recognize: Celebrate teams or individuals who hit skill
By Melaine Mahabir, CPTM, CKM
“Growth mindset” may sound like another piece of corporate jargon — a trendy phrase you either love or hate. But it’s far more than a buzzword. Coined by Dr. Carol Dweck after decades of research, the concept distinguishes between two perspectives:
• A fixed mindset says, “I’m either good at this, or I’m not.”
• A growth mindset says, “I’m not good at this yet.”
A pure growth mindset doesn’t exist, which we must acknowledge to attain the benefits we seek. The people who adopt this mindset believe that intelligence and ability can be developed over time. They understand their limitations, actively work to overcome them and trust that, with effort, they’ll improve.
A growth mindset is how you operate daily and how you manage failures and obstacles.
Employees with a strong growth mindset are 50% more likely to think and act like an entrepreneur, displaying skills like innovation, risk taking and problem-solving, compared to those with a fixed mindset.
Another report by Talent LMS revealed that 80% of executives believe a growth mindset within their workforce directly contributes to higher profits. Even Microsoft, under Satya Nadella’s leadership, shifted its entire culture from “know-it-all” to “learn-it-all” — in doing so, the market value more than tripled.
When you embrace a growth mindset, you stop waiting for opportunities to find you. You create them. You build your own seat at the table. Your whole life revolves around “not yet,” because you see the possibilities of making things happen when others can’t.
But let’s move past the usual advice like “read more” or “network often,” let’s focus on actionable, measurable and habit-building ways to secure this mindset daily.
1. Embrace the Postmortem
Instead of glazing over past mistakes, analyze them like a case study:
• What went wrong?
• What assumptions did you make?
• What would you do differently?
This reflection rewires your brain to learn from mistakes instead of fearing them.
2. Stretch Yourself — Literally and Figuratively
Volunteer for projects outside your comfort zone. If you’re in training, add a
A growth mindset is how you operate daily and how you manage failures and obstacles.
new modality to your sessions. If you’re in leadership, try a public speaking class. The more you put yourself in uncomfortable situations, the more adaptable and innovative you become.
3. Let Limitations Spark Innovation
Some of the greatest ideas come from constraints. When Airbnb founders couldn’t afford rent, they turned their apartment into a lodging business. Netflix grew tired of Blockbuster’s exorbitant fees for late returns, so they launched rentals without late fees and later a successful streaming service. Instead of seeing constraints as setbacks, ask: What could we finish despite this obstacle?
4. Reframe “I Can’t” With “I Can’t … Yet”
Instead of saying, “I’m not good at public speaking,” say, “I’m not great at public speaking yet.” That small word insertion will rewire and reinforce a belief that will develop over time.
5. Make Feedback a Habit
Growth-minded individuals actively seek feedback from everyone. Seek out individuals who challenge you to think differently, who aren’t afraid to
give constructive feedback. If you’re not asking for feedback, you’re missing an opportunity to accelerate growth.
6. Out of the Box Idea — Failure Parties
Host monthly “failure parties” where team members share something that didn’t work, what they learned and how it shaped their next move. I personally tried this with a team and their senior manager spoke first. We documented the failure, the lesson learnt and everyone’s responses to mitigate it. The team members rushed to share theirs since they realized they were safe and the behavior was modeled publicly. They now use the list as a form of training for their team.
If your team is not ready to go public, you can use anonymous submissions. Let someone read the failure aloud dramatically and get ready to cue the humor and humility.
Companies like Google and Netflix have transformed their hiring practices and performance evaluations, focusing on potential over pedigree. This allows employees to work through challenges,
If you want to solidify a growth mindset, commit to one of these challenges for 30 days:
• Learn a skill completely outside your field (coding, storytelling, content creation).
• Deliberately seek constructive feedback weekly and implement one change.
• Write down three lessons learned from failure each week.
• Mentor someone — and let them mentor you back.
Small, daily actions lead to exponential personal and professional growth. What’s your next move?
The more you put yourself in uncomfortable situations, the more adaptable and innovative you become.
take more initiative, adapt faster and contribute meaningfully.
This does not have to only apply to Fortune 500 companies. Consultants, small businesses and nonprofits that build a growth mindset culture are more adaptable in the face of change and more creative when resources are limited. Right now, artificial intelligence (AI) automates tasks and learning agility is no longer optional, it’s survival.
Whether you’re a one-person team or leading a large global team, continuous learning is no longer a luxury. It’s your competitive edge. Organizations that fail to foster this culture risk falling behind. In contrast, those who embrace it will lead the future of work.
The Unfinished Business of Becoming Your Best Self
A growth mindset isn’t something you “achieve,” it’s a lifelong process. Every industry shift, new challenge and unexpected setback is an opportunity to strengthen it.
So, ask yourself: Will you let challenges define your limits, or will you let them redefine your journey into a growth mindset?
Author bio: Melaine Mahabir, CPTM, CKM is the founder and chief habit builder of Trainer’s Compass Consulting (TCC) and founder and general masseur of Pampered Party Experience (PPE). With a passion for knowledge transfer and lifelong learning, she helps organizations build sustainable learning cultures through habits, not just courses. Email Melaine.
Congratulations to the following CPTM graduates who have become alumni since our last issue. Your accomplishment places you amongst an elite group of learning and development professionals. We cannot wait to see how you will lead the change! This year marks a decade of CPTM excellence. Cheers to 10 years!
Congrats to these graduates from the same company!
Defense Security Cooperation University
James Stewart
Jennifer Grigsby
Megan Scavezze
Tanya Tercero
Discover Financial Services
David Neal
Jason Button
Tricia Goltry
French Lick Resort
Amanda Noble
Amanda Parsons
Jessie Dryer
Adriana Villagomez AbbVie
Adriel Lou de Lou Strategies
Alaina Bonner Career Certified
Alan Crabtree Davis Ulmer
Alejandra Rivera de la Rosa Georgia-Pacific, LLC
Alex Bingham Concept Plus
Alyssa Lentz Terumo
Amy Mott Composites One
Andrea Dexter Sound Credit Union
Angela Lee AMSG
Maximus
Geneva L. Valentine-Hinojos
Tina Holman
Primoris Services Corporation
David Coleman
David Blackmore
Quanta Services
Joel Duarte
Troy Kamphuis
Texas De Brazil
Carlos Restrepo
Steven Hudson
Anna Johnston Cotiviti
Antoinette Preyer Vituity
Ashley Binford Covetrus
Barbara Miller
Brandy Brandstatter Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma
Benjamin Mahoney M&M Learning
Bettina Schulz
Blake Hall
Albanese Confectionery Group
Bonnie Marchand
Brenda de Jhong Africoal SA (PTY) Ltd
Brendan Kearns Dollar Bank
Siemens
Diana Gonzales
Esther Mergerson
Juandell Latrice Brent
Michelle Perez
Tahisha Adams-Bradford
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Andrea Ysirdon
Tara Murphy
Wabtec
Kylie Webb
Joseph Jones
Brian Criswell T.W. Frierson
Brianne Murphy Teladoc Health
Bryan Weingart Embrace Pet Insurance
Cale Harmon Nammo Defense Systems
Cecile Boulter Focuswise
Charlotte Abergerl Equitable Bank
Chris Trejo Beneficial State Bank
Christian Olivarez Nationwide
Christine Armstrong GCI
Clement NDAHIRO Skol Brewery Limited
Constantino Nguema Mansogo Ayang
Chevron
Daniel Ray BankFirst Financial Services
Darrin Haynes United States Infastructure Company
Debra Maietta Premier Medical Group of the Hudson Valley
Djildo Z. Kock Aruba Airport Authority N.V.
Donna Merrills Forsyth County Goverment
Dwight Jackson NIKA
Edwin Barrera American Society of Home Inspectors
Elizabeth Baldwin QTS
Gordan Kalabic American Academy of Implant Dentistry
Heather Dickinson National Life Group
Jaqueline Beery Carelon Health
Jamie Butler Equify Financial LLC
Jamie Kirchner Ascent Environmental
Jason Pearce Artisan Design Group
Jeff Van Den Berg CUI
Jennifer Baechle Missouri Athletic CLub
Jennifer Ney Nestle Purina PetCare
Jennfier Trimble F&G Annuities and Life
Jessica Allen M&T Bank
Jessica Vail NAIC
Jill-Morgan Aubert
Jim Fitzmier Automated Financial Systems
Jody Fosnough Fort Financial Credit Union
Jos Dames Adyen
Joyce Miguel Power Design, Inc.
Julie Muenchow Centerspace
Kalea Stehly BerryDunn
Karanrat Ritthirat IBM Digital Talent
Katie Bohman Additional Financial
Kelly Nault Pharmalink, Inc.
Kevin Sims Sartorius
Kisha Stanback Weatherby Healthcare
Krista Brazil Scotia Bank/MD Management
Kristen Corson WOW Carwash
Kristen Kjos CorePlus Credit Union
Kristen Switzer Taylor Morrison
Laura Larson Fujifilm Sonosite
Lawrence Joaquin Stryker
Lesa Taylor NAIC
Linda Croyle UC Santa Barbara
Lyndise Mitter
Mariana Dalton Snoqualmie Indian Tribe
Meredith Carter Capital One
Michael Betts Applied Research Associates
Michael McCombs Presitge Medical Imaging
Michael Thopmson
Milla Olo 3M
Mohamed Abdelkader Boehringer Ingelheim
Nicole Gomez City of Lubbock Utilities
Norina Domingo Davita, Inc.
Paige Palermo PetSmart
Pinar Arda St. Francis House
Regina Cook Virgina Western Community College
Ricky Boggs Landmark Properties
Ryan Rich Diamonds Direct
Sarah Mosley Neighbors Credit Union
Shaday Edwards Network Connex
Shandon Richardson Texas Department of Transportation
Stacy Casens Solari Crisis and Human Services
Steven Roddie Ball Corporation
Tais Decker Hawaiin Airlines
Thom Quist CS Wind America
Tiffany Sapp Diageo
Tom Steussy
Tonya Ellis Regional Transit Authority- New Orleans
Tracy Cunningham Verathon, Inc.
Travis Curtis Pilot Company
Tyra Burch Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union
Tyra Sasita DFPS Texas
Vanessa Chapa VIA Metropolitan Transit
Vishvakanth Alexander Emriates NBD
By Sarah-June Carroll and Eric D. Mead
Why is it so difficult for human beings to speak with candor about challenging issues? In our daily interactions, we often find ourselves navigating a complex web of emotions, social norms and personal fears, making it incredibly challenging to express ourselves openly, especially when addressing difficult issues and topics. Understanding these barriers is crucial in fostering more genuine and transparent communication, paving the way for deeper connections and more effective problem-solving.
So, what are the underlying issues associated with having courageous conversations, and what approaches should be considered by anyone who needs to engage in difficult dialogue in an increasingly divisive and complex corporate world?
Avoiding difficult conversations is often motivated by various elements of fear.
Many people have a fear of conflict, which can prompt the avoidance of difficult conversations. All of us have experienced emotionally charged discussions at one time or another, leading us to choose to sidestep or ignore any difficult conversation that might result in strong emotional reactions.
We also often fear rejection. As humans, we are hardwired for social belonging and sensitive to any cues that might indicate we are no longer welcome in a group. If rocking the boat means that you get labeled “the difficult one,” we will likely choose not to engage in difficult conversations — especially if it means social rejection will follow.
Finally, fear of jeopardizing a relationship can prevent necessary conversations from taking place. Some people avoid challenging conversations with the justification that it’s better to maintain the status quo. If we raise an issue, it may damage the relationship and create awkward, ongoing tension.
Unfortunately, each of these fears ignores the reality that when known issues are not addressed, there’s already a growing crack in the foundation of the relationship.
When engaging in conversations where elements of fear or risk are present, people frequently engage in two typical behavior patterns: winning and minimizing.
Winning is defined as any attempt to dominate, overpower or control the conversation by making sure you end up being “right.” It may present as pushing your agenda at the expense of the other person’s or as interrupting, intimidating, shutting down discussion or simply taking up more than your fair share of the talk time. This may feel like a victory in the moment (it’s called “winning,” after all). However, the impact is that it ultimately creates more harm than good.
In other words, you may have won the battle but failed to recognize that war was never the goal.
Minimizing is downplaying your own perspective to avoid conflict or discomfort. It can look like speaking softly, apologizing unnecessarily, holding back concerns or agreeing too quickly at the cost of your own views. This often leads to feeling unheard or undervalued.
In a courageous conversation, minimizing prioritizes short-term comfort over long-term trust and growth. Avoiding discomfort by being overly cautious or failing to address significant issues may bring temporary relief, but it also prevents necessary progress. Over time, this too damages relationships, as others may feel they can’t trust you to engage in honest, meaningful dialogue.
Both behavior patterns cater to your own comfort at the expense of addressing an issue appropriately. To be effective with courageous conversations, you need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
In July 2024, cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike pushed an untested software update, which crashed millions of Windows systems worldwide. This cataclysmic outage, with its sweeping “blue screen of death,” cost Fortune 500 businesses $5.4 billion. The airline industry was hit especially hard by this crash. With systems down for days, it absolutely paralyzed global travel.
For travelers at that time, a routine flight home became a multi-day ordeal as airlines were unable to provide timely information to passengers, increasing the frustration levels of customers and airline workers alike. Rental cars and hotels became scarce, making it even more challenging for customers who were stuck navigating the situation.
One potential source of this disaster stemmed from conversations that were avoided at various levels: engineers who didn’t voice testing
concerns, executives who sidestepped deployment-risk discussions and team members who dismissed concerns about unproven processes and artificial intelligence (AI) designed to catch flaws in their system updates.
This incident powerfully demonstrates how avoiding difficult conversations can turn routine problems into significant failures with far-reaching consequences.
When known issues are not addressed, there’s already a growing crack in the foundation of the relationship.
The need for leaders, teams and employees at all levels to increase their communication effectiveness is certainly on the rise. Demand for improved performance and effective leadership — along with accelerating change in the workplace — requires that we must recalibrate communication practices and shorten the timeline for engaging in various types of dialogue.
The increasingly divisive nature of our society is showing up more in the workplace, and ignoring the divide is no longer an option. To be on the cutting edge, we must have open and honest conversations more frequently. When our competition’s team members can be candid with each other about what’s not working, they’re gaining an advantage. We simply can’t afford to waste time.
Courageous Conversations are unlikely to spring up spontaneously; the need for them is more likely to grow over time. Therefore, creating the conditions to stay out of winning or minimizing behaviors and finding balance in dialogue requires psychological safety.
Dr. Amy Edmondson defines psychological safety as a shared belief among team members that the group is safe for interpersonal risk-taking, meaning individuals feel they can bring up ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes without fear of negative consequences. Dr. Edmondson’s research has found that when organizations engage in courageous conversations, it improves information and knowledge sharing and other performance metrics.
The framework below is based on decades of real-world experience working with leaders and individual contributors across the globe and informed by the principles of action science pioneered by leading researchers. This approach provides a practical guide to navigating difficult conversations.
In the most effective courageous conversations, preparation begins well before either person starts to speak. Begin by elevating your self-awareness and paying attention to your own raw emotions about the situation. Ask yourself what the other person is experiencing and take a moment to imagine yourself in the other person’s situation. This is not about making assumptions that you later project, it’s about expanding your empathy and being open to possibilities from another perspective.
Share the intent of the conversation by clarifying desired outcomes. What do you hope will be different because of this conversation? Is that a realistic expectation? Many people find it helpful to craft a written statement of intent. This does not need to be formal; a simple sticky note or a sentence in your notes app will get the job done. The goal is to challenge yourself to be honest about your true intentions and prepare to keep the conversation focused. Use language that is neutral, non-blaming, clear and kind. Focus on specific observations of behavior or instances and stay away from generalized attacks on a person’s character.
The goal is to challenge yourself to be honest about your true intentions and prepare to keep the conversation focused.
Remember that you are not delivering a speech. This is a two-way dialogue. Assume positive intent from the other person’s behaviors and words. Ask open-ended questions that expand the dialogue and stay curious from a place of non-judgment. Throughout the conversation, listen to your words. Are you minimizing? Are you attempting to win? Watch your tone and your body language, and if you get off track, pause and redirect back to your intention for the conversation.
The most effective courageous conversations anticipate the follow-up before the conversation closes. Before you part ways, review and reflect on what has been discussed, explored and discovered. Confirm understanding and create shared meaning around what’s been discussed. Most difficult
discussions don’t begin and end with a one-time conversation. To accomplish your goals, expect that you may need to engage in a series of conversations.
Clarify what action steps need to be taken or what processes need to be different in the future. What needs to be done to demonstrate a commitment to action? Both parties should summarize what they are going to do because of the conversation, and by when.
While assuaging our discomfort by avoiding challenging conversations may momentarily feel more pleasant, there is a potential explosion brewing. Complex issues do not have simple solutions. They require greater transparency, honest feedback and a willingness to unlock a diversity of perspectives.
By embracing and committing to more frequent and effective courageous conversations, organizations will bridge divides, enhance communication, create stronger cultures of accountability, reduce miscommunication and prevent conflict escalation — all of which ultimately leads to stronger relationships and better outcomes.
Sarah-June Carroll is a senior leadership development consultant and executive coach for CMOE, Inc. Sarah-June has more than 15 years of experience in developing individuals and groups in their professional and personal growth.
Eric D. Mead is the executive vice president at CMOE, Inc. Eric has spent the past 25 years training and consulting across the globe on human dynamics, businessperformance solutions and leadership development. Email the authors.
• Get grounded
• Set the environment
• Acknowledge the discomfort
• Clearly state your intent
• Use “I” statements
• Listen empathetically
• Ask clarifying questions
• Monitor your tone and body language
• Regulate your own emotions
• Pause and breathe, if needed
• Stay curious, not combative
• End with a clear action plan
• Follow up
• Avoid the conversation altogether
• Attempt to resolve the challenge over email or chat
• Make it public
• Get defensive
• Sugarcoat or be vague
• Over-apologize
• Use blaming language
• Interrupt or talk over the other person
• Dismiss their emotions
• Bring up the past unnecessarily
• Make assumptions about their intentions
• Rush through it
• Leave without a plan
By Caelan Cooney
Upskilling has become quite the buzzword in recent years, and for good reason. As technological advancements, artificial intelligence (AI) and shifting market demands continue to reshape the workplace, companies are under increasing pressure to ensure their workforce remains capable, agile and future-ready. Yet, a recent Gallup study shows that “less than half of employees (47%) strongly agree they have the skills needed to be exceptional at their current job.” Yikes.
Adding to this challenge, only 26% of U.S. employees strongly agree that their organization encourages them to learn new skills. Notably, senior leaders are much more likely to feel supported (43%). But for the folks doing the day-to-day work — managers (25%), project managers (24%), and individual contributors (26%) — that sense of support drops off fast. Ultimately, this means most employees do not feel adequately prepared to do their jobs and may not be encouraged to, or have access to,
the upskilling opportunities they need to perform and make an impact.
This gap presents a critical opportunity for learning professionals to provide high-quality upskilling experiences that benefit all employees, regardless of their tenure or level.
The skills employees need to be successful in today’s (let alone tomorrow’s) workplace have changed dramatically over the last few years. As the world changes, The World Economic Forum predicts that by 2025 (that’s now!), 50% of employees will need reskilling. At this pace, it’s no wonder that employees feel like they are falling behind.
And the urgency to upskill is only increasing. In fact, 22% of workers fear their jobs will become obsolete because of advances in technology.
By fostering an environment where learning can happen more organically, organizations can empower employees to take ownership of their development.
And those concerns appear justified — 72% of Fortune 500 CHROs expect AI to replace jobs within their organizations in the next three years.
Yet, as illustrated earlier, companies are falling short when it comes to addressing these challenges. To truly future-proof our organizations, learning opportunities need to be accessible and effective for everyone. So, how can you make upskilling a company-wide initiative?
Here are three effective strategies to help you upskill your entire team:
1. Make Learning New Skills Engaging (and Practical) for Learners
Unfortunately, skills training is often viewed as a check-the-box activity by both leadership and participants. Just
getting it over with becomes a priority over the quality of those experiences. But upskilling efforts are only as effective as the learning experiences they provide. Kahoot’s 2024 Workplace Culture report found that “nearly half (46%) of workers find corporate training boring, and 37% say it’s delivered in an unengaging way.” Simply offering training programs isn’t enough — those programs must be engaging and practical to ensure employees are motivated to participate and apply what they learn.
So, what makes a learning experience “engaging?”
Training must be relevant to employees’ day-to-day work and the business’s priorities. Exercises like case studies, role-plays and simulations that mirror real challenges employees face make skillbuilding more contextualized and handson for learners. Relevant timing of training is also important. Align training with critical moments that matter to ensure it can be immediately applied. If your managers need to improve their performance management capabilities, it will be much more impactful if training is scheduled alongside the performance review season rather than on any old Tuesday.
Many of the top skills workers need to thrive today and in the future are best learned through interaction, not isolation. According to the 2025
Future of Jobs report, outside of technological skills, traditionally “soft skills” like creativity, resilience, agility, leadership and social influence remain among the top 10 skills on the rise. These are people skills that need to be learned through interaction with others to stick. To design effective upskilling experiences, we need to leverage approaches like group discussions, breakout activities and social learning tools. These methods not only help participants build connections but also reinforce concepts through dialogue and collaboration.
As the saying goes, “practice makes perfect.” And it’s true — research shows that learning by doing is one of the most effective methods for skill retention. Creating opportunities for learners to practice new skills immediately, whether through interactive exercises, projects or other collaborative tasks, is essential for embedding skills in the long run.
The call to upskill your entire organization may seem daunting. Now more than ever, teams are operating with limited headcount and resources to support learning programs. However, as workplace complexities and skill needs evolve, so do the methods for delivering effective and scalable learning.
To be truly effective, practice should be paired with timely feedback and reflection. Feedback helps learners deepen their understanding and make behavioral changes, while guided reflection reinforces learning by encouraging them to connect new skills to on-thejob challenges. When learners can immediately apply their skills through practice, receive constructive feedback and reflect on their experiences, they’re far more likely to retain those skills and feel more motivated and capable of applying them.
Gone are the days of relying on a singular delivery method for training. Blended learning approaches not only allow for variety, reinforcement and hands-on experiences, but they also help distribute the responsibility of training to both formal and more informal methods. By combining different experiences, like live learning, self-paced resources, AI tools and onthe-job training, L&D teams can create comprehensive strategies that can also scale by distributing the responsibility of development more broadly across the organization, including supervisors and peers.
With limited time and capacity across all teams, it behooves learning professionals to encourage more baseline learning habits through the integration of training opportunities into daily work. This means providing more than just structured programs and finding ways to embed and connect to learning throughout the employee lifecycle. For instance, connecting learning to career building through individual development planning, or regularly celebrating achievements in skill development by attaching them to organization-wide learning goals.
Beyond formal training and development, organizations should also promote more
informal learning opportunities, such as mentoring, employee resource groups, networking, book clubs or team-building activities. These self-directed learning experiences encourage continuous growth, facilitate knowledge sharing and enhance employee engagement. By fostering an environment where learning can happen more organically, organizations can empower employees to take ownership of their development and build skills in a more flexible, continuous way.
L&D teams can’t succeed in isolation. It takes a village to make learning initiatives successful. One of our most critical responsibilities is to help build that village by partnering with leaders, ensuring learning is seen as both a business priority and an employee imperative.
No upskilling initiative will succeed without senior leadership buy-in. To get leadership on board, we need to understand what’s really important to them by asking questions like, “What is their specific vision for the future?” And “What skills are needed in the team to get there?”
By asking powerful questions and serving as trusted consultants, L&D professionals can position themselves as strategic partners. This collaborative approach enables you to design training programs that clearly align skill-building efforts with organizational objectives, demonstrating that skills development is not just a one-off, check-the-box activity. Instead, it becomes a strategic driver for both employee growth and overall business success.
Leaning into these executive partnerships and demonstrating the value of skills development can help you secure the necessary resources and commitment from leadership to invest in your initiatives. Therefore, demonstrating the impact of your initiatives becomes crucial. It is our responsibility to capture metrics that matter — such as productivity, employee
When managers are empowered to foster growth on their teams, upskilling becomes a shared responsibility across all levels of the organization.
engagement and retention — along with compelling success stories that show the true business impact.
Senior leaders are not the only influential leaders on the block. Mid-level managers and front-line supervisors play a critical role in supporting and reinforcing learning across the organization. After all, they are the ones interacting with employees dayto-day, guiding their performance and creating environments where learning can either thrive or falter.
For your upskilling initiatives to be effective, managers need to see how supporting employee growth directly impacts their team performance and improves their leadership effectiveness. But expecting managers to support learning without the right skills
themselves is unfair and unrealistic. Many managers are promoted because of their technical expertise, not necessarily because of their ability to coach and develop others. This is why it’s crucial to provide managers with their own training experiences that equip them to be effective coaches, feedback givers and mentors.
It’s also important that we put tools, processes and resources in place that can help them to better embed these practices into their own work, such as 1:1 templates, individual development plans or guidance on how to reward employees for reaching their goals. When managers are empowered to foster growth on their teams, upskilling becomes a shared responsibility across all levels of the organization.
In today’s workplace, upskilling is no longer optional. The data is clear: Employees at all levels are feeling the pressure to keep up, yet many don’t feel supported in their growth. To future-proof your workforce, upskilling must be embedded into the fabric of your organization, ensuring learning is relevant, engaging and accessible to everyone, not just high-potential employees or senior leaders.
The good news? You don’t need a massive overhaul to begin. Small, intentional steps can make a big impact. Take a moment to assess your current strategy. What’s one way to make skills development more accessible and effective for your team? By focusing on incremental efforts, you can build real momentum that empowers your employees with the skills they need to thrive in today’s — and tomorrow’s — workplace.
Caelan Cooney is an experienced senior learning strategist at Hone, specializing in crafting and evaluating impactful employee learning journeys. With a Master’s in I-O psychology and a decade of experience in learning and development, she brings deep expertise in learner engagement and measurement strategies, helping organizations drive meaningful outcomes through tailored programming. Email Caelan.
By Maggie Redling and Coleman Williams
When the approach is less about evaluation and more about understanding, that’s when the learning sticks.
The challenges of today don’t come with step-by-step instructions. There’s no best practice for navigating the level of ambiguity teams are feeling right now. Today, creative problem-solving is more than a soft skill — it’s survival.
You can’t mandate creativity, but learning leaders and teams can play a pivotal role in building an environment that encourages creative thinking and innovation. You must intentionally make room for it — and trust the process along the way.
Nobody shows up to work thinking, “Today, I’m going to play it safe and stick to the script.” But when pressure kicks in — tight deadlines, big expectations, not enough clarity — playing it safe becomes the default.
Let’s look at three reasons creativity gets stuck:
Urgency: In organizations where speed gets rewarded, the faster you can respond, the more competent you look. So, people stick with what they know. They reach for familiar answers, even when they don’t solve the real problem. When the clock’s ticking and eyes are on you, trying something new can feel like a risk you can’t afford to take.
Fear: Not the big, dramatic kind but the quiet, everyday version that keeps people from raising a hand or pushing back. It could be fear of being wrong, overcomplicating things, being labeled difficult or adding more work to their plate. Most teams don’t even realize it’s there, but it shows up subtly: ideas that never get shared, unasked questions and conversations that stay at the surface.
Lack of safety: If people don’t feel like there’s room to test an idea, ask a better question or fail without fallout, they’ll play it safe every time. That’s where learning and development (L&D) can make a real impact. It’s not just about giving people new tools — it’s about giving them the conditions to use them. Programs that build in reflection, honest dialogue and permission to experiment create the space where creative problem-solving can happen.
In short, without breathing room, support and safety, creativity on teams will suffer.
Many well-intentioned problem-solving training courses rely on structured frameworks such as fishbone diagrams or the “five whys” to provide a sense of order. But these tools, while helpful, don’t always translate to high-stakes, ambiguous environments. (Let’s face it, structure is cool, but it can be a total buzzkill to creativity.) Learners may understand the steps but freeze when the situation gets messy.
That’s because creative thinking isn’t a checklist. It’s a mindset — and one that requires space, safety and a bit of experimentation.
Let’s look at another approach that throws structure out the window.
In a recent leadership program, one group of mid-level managers was asked a provocative question to kick off a session on accountability: “What would you do if your goal was to completely destroy trust on your team?” What followed was a reverse brainstorm that revealed unspoken norms, common blockers and the emotional tension slowing their progress. By naming the worst-case behaviors, they were better equipped to identify what needed to change.
The brilliance of that approach is that it didn’t just surface problems, it made them safe to say out loud. The exercise gave people permission to be honest without fear of blame. That opened the door to real change.
Creative problem-solving can also change how people reflect. For instance, instead of ending a session with a feedback form, a more creative approach is to ask participants to interview each other. The goal is to reflect on the experience through a conversation instead of a checklist. You might ask: “How did you approach this challenge, and how did your partner approach it differently?”
We’ve seen first-hand how a small change like this made people pause
and listen. They noticed patterns in how they worked, gained new language for how others thought and left with more than just a takeaway — they walked away with a new lens. When the approach is less about evaluation and more about understanding, that’s when the learning sticks.
Exercises like this push beyond surfacelevel problem-solving. They invite learners to play with ideas and practice reframing challenges without the fear of being wrong. Even small changes to team dynamics can open the door to better thinking.
For example:
• Start meetings with a “what if” prompt to reframe the challenge.
• Assign a rotating “creative disruptor” role to question assumptions.
• Consider adding a pre-mortem to your project plans that includes the question: “If this failed six months from now, what likely went wrong?”
These might seem simple, but they reshape the tone of team conversations by creating room for dissent, exploration and breakthrough thinking. When you shift the structure, you shift the outcomes.
One of the most effective ways to spark creativity is to put a few guardrails in place.
In a workshop focused on rethinking the employee experience, one group was asked to redesign onboarding but only to use existing tools and processes. No budget. No new systems. No added headcount.
At first, the constraint felt frustrating. But then teams started to get creative. They took stock of what was already working, cut what wasn’t and figured out new ways to connect the dots across departments. The result wasn’t flashy, but it worked. More importantly, it stuck because the people closest to the work built it themselves.
Another cross-functional team we worked with had completely stalled out. On paper, the task at hand was simple: Improve a process and make sure that
cross-functional teams knew what to do. But every department had its own tools, their own way of working and unspoken assumptions about how they work with other teams. Collaboration felt impossibly hard. No one wanted to give up control, conversations circled about who was doing it “right” and so much time was spent documenting the current state.
We took a similar approach by introducing a constraint: Solve the problem without changing your tools or timelines. Use only what you already have and people who are already part of the process.
Again, the team pushed back at first. But then they started mapping out how information moved between departments. That’s when it clicked. The problem wasn’t the tools; it was the handoffs. The breakdowns were happening in the transitions rather than the systems.
Once that was clear, the solution came quickly: A shared checklist and a simple visual workflow — no new software, no extra meetings, just better clarity. Most importantly, the tension in the room dropped because they solved it together.
That’s what creative problem-solving often looks like in action: practical, teamdriven and grounded in reality. And the best part? A successful outcome isn’t just about the solution. It’s about seeing the participants shift their mindsets and think differently.
It's not just about giving people new tools — it's about giving them the conditions to use them. Programs that build in reflection, honest dialogue and permission to experiment create the space where creative problem-solving can happen.
When teams have regular opportunities to practice creative problem-solving, it starts to become a habit — not just a workshop activity. In companies where creative problem-solving is part of the culture, we’ve found that employees ask better questions, regularly look for trends and patterns in their work and take more ownership in outcomes. Teams have the tools and approaches to solve their own challenges as they arise, which means work happens faster and leaders have more time to focus on strategy and planning.
The shift may be quiet, but it’s powerful. Teams stop chasing certainty and start getting comfortable making progress in the gray. They don’t wait for the
perfect solution — they move, test, learn and adapt. This kind of thinking isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a competitive advantage. And learning teams are in a unique position to lead the way.
By designing programs that normalize ambiguity, encourage experimentation and build team confidence, we create a culture where creativity isn’t a one-time event. It’s how problems get solved.
Maggie Redling and Coleman Williams are the co-founders of Wrestling With Talent, a leadership development firm that blends cognitive science, pop culture, and a little chaos to help organizations grow. Together, they design learning experiences that build real capability, shift behavior, and drive results. Email Maggie and Coleman.
• Open meetings with a “what if” question to reframe the challenge.
• Assign a rotating “creative disruptor” to challenge assumptions.
• Run a Reverse Brainstorm: “How could we make this worse?”
• Add artificial constraints (time, budget, tools) to inspire focus.
• Swap post-mortems for pre-mortems to identify risks early.
For more than 100 years, we’ve helped companies of all sizes create a vibrant, sustainable workforce by fostering an environment that thrives on positive, productive relationships. As your employees discover how to have clearer, more compelling interactions with their colleagues, you’ll see a more innovative and supportive culture emerge leading to higher levels of engagement, productivity and success across the board.
• Powerful People Skills
• Inspiring Presenters
• Leaders Who Build
• More Sales & Amazing Service
• Activated Organizations
Delivering solutions in 75+ countries and 29 languages
BY KALYAN BALANTRAPU
Most communication skills training in organizations follow a one-sizefits-all approach. As a result, a Java developer, who is hunched over lines of codes, and a data scientist, who is lost in probabilities, are often ushered into the same training environment — regardless of their vastly different roles and daily responsibilities. After sitting through such generic programs, they return to their desks under-equipped to effectively meet the communication demands of the functional side of their work.
IT’S ABOUT READING BETWEEN THE LINES — TRANSLATING TASKS INTO INTERPERSONAL AND COMMUNICATION COMPETENCIES NEEDED TO PERFORM THEM EFFECTIVELY.
Let’s define the rather elusive word “competency” before delving into the concept of competency mapping. In their book, “The Art and Science of Competency Models: Pinpointing Critical Success Factors in Organizations,” Anntoinette D. Lucia and Richard Lepsinger define a competency as “a cluster of related knowledge, skills and attitudes that affects a major part of one’s job (a role or responsibility), that correlates with performance on the job.”
This definition highlights a fundamental truth: that individuals need the right skills to perform a job effectively. And it is a given that these skills can be developed through learning programs. Organizations, therefore, expend considerable time and resources in upskilling employees on a range of technical capabilities aligned to their roles. They also devote a fair amount of time to developing the technical employees’ communication and professional skills. And yet, here lies a yawning chasm. While technical training is tailored to the specific requirements of each role, communication skills training is often bundled under a single umbrella — delivered uniformly, regardless of function, context or role.
communication skills training with the same intent and precision as they do technical training — making it tailored, specific and relevant to the role. Competency mapping is the essential first step to making that happen.
Companies that do this well are able to CRAFT memorable learning programs. Let’s look at how:
• Customize: A competency mapping exercise customizes communication skills training based on the specific competencies required for each technical role.
• Refine: Once the training design is customized, the exercise can further refine the learning strategy to ensure the offering is targeted and role-relevant.
• Align: With this level of customization and refinement, the learning program is clearly aligned with the skills, attitudes and behaviors needed to perform effectively on the role.
How are these professionals underequipped despite sitting through programs that might have been designed by reputable instructional designers and curriculum planners? The answer lies in competency mapping — or rather, the lack of it.
To bridge this gaping chasm, organizations must approach
• Facilitate: This alignment empowers the learning and development (L&D) teams, including curriculum developers, instructional designers and facilitators, to facilitate clear, contextualized and relatable training.
• Transform: As these steps come together, the training intervention
has the potential to transform how organizations approach communication and professional skills training — leading to elevated return on investment (ROI) and meaningful on-the-job impact.
To put competency mapping into action, learning leaders can look to the five Rs: Research, Retrieve, Refine, Reinforce and Reflect (see Figure 1).
This is the first crucial step in competency mapping. To ensure a strong foundation, L&D teams must:
• Review the job description of the targeted technical role to infer expectations and deliverables.
• Engage with subject matter experts (SMEs) or practice leads to gain invaluable insights into role-specific communication and professional skills required for success.
• Consult senior professionals in the role to garner information on realworld challenges, perspectives and their experiences.
When reviewing the official job description of a technical role, inference becomes an important skill. Most job descriptions do not explicitly articulate communication or professional skills expectations. Instead, the L&D team must extrapolate those requirements by analyzing the listed responsibilities and deliverables. It’s about reading between the lines — translating tasks into interpersonal and communication competencies needed to perform them effectively.
For instance, one job description for a senior software engineer on LinkedIn lists under requirements: “Collaborate with a world-class team of software and systems engineers, data scientists and other stakeholders.” This single line hints at a vast range of communication and professional skills, such as the ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams, listen actively, manage stakeholders effectively and present complex ideas succinctly. While these skills are not explicitly listed, they become evident upon closer examination.
L&D teams should use what they learn in the first two steps to then refine the communication and professional
skills training design. Consider the following strategies:
• Create a mapping document
Begin by preparing a document for each key deliverable listed in the job description. A competency mapping document can include, but is not limited to, the following components: key deliverables, communication and professional skills competencies, exemplar behaviors, development activities, and content aligned to the development activities.
The curriculum design should flow from left to right, with each element logically evolving from the one before it and ensuring that every activity is coherently and strongly anchored to the previous one.
What’s more, creating varying degrees of proficiency for the same behavioral or communication trait is something that L&D teams might need to consider when preparing the competency mapping document. This increases the framework’s scalability.
For instance, consider the skill of problem management. If it is a principal behavioral trait for a business analyst, the team can outline varying levels of proficiency. At level one, an entry-level analyst might be expected to ask the right questions and articulate problems in clear language. At level two, an experienced analyst might be expected to explore potential solutions and adopt a problemsolving approach. Such staggered classification allows teams to build a rich repertoire of content that addresses the developmental needs of employees across experience levels.
• Embed context in content
To truly elevate the impact of communication and professional skills training programs, L&D professionals need to walk the extra mile by creating content that is hyperrelevant to the role. For instance, problem-solving as an expected behavioral trait can be common to
most roles, but when training a data analyst in problem-solving, you may use contexts, examples and use cases drawn from the data analytics domain. This contextual approach will not only foster stronger buy-in from the learners but will also result in memorable learning experiences.
At this stage, if the outcomes are not satisfactory, the teams can go back to the first stage of the process and evaluate the decisions for better outcomes.
As the old adage says, “The proof is in the pudding,” and the fourth stage of competency mapping truly echoes this. Designing a training plan that is curated specifically for a role can take
significant time and resources — but the work is not done. It is now essential to train the employees, collect feedback, observe how well they are responding to the content and reflect on the decisions. The final two steps, reinforce and reflect, ensure that the program is not just well-designed but genuinely impactful, ultimately contributing to greater business goals around growth, employee development and retention.
Kalyan Balantrapu, learning and leadership development specialist at Accenture, Bengaluru, leads several leadership and new joiner development programs. With over 15 years of experience, he brings deep expertise in training design, coaching and talent development across global teams. Emai l Kalyan.
Not
all learning leaders have the same development needs.
That’s
why Training Industry Courses created personalized Learning Journeys.
From topics including evaluating performance, identifying training needs and managing learning technologies, there is a Learning Journey that will help you fill your unique skills gaps to become a more confident learning leader.
BY SHARIEM SATERFIELD, CPTM
We often hear about the traits that define great leaders: emotional intelligence, active listening, strategic thinking and strong communication skills. And while these qualities are essential, they’re only part of the picture. One critical — yet frequently overlooked — characteristic of effective leadership is self-reflection.
LEADERS WHO CAN’T ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR ROLE IN TEAM CHALLENGES RISK DAMAGING TRUST, ACCOUNTABILITY AND MORALE.
Self-reflection is the practice of reviewing one’s thoughts, feelings and actions. For leaders, it means evaluating their contributions to a team member’s success or failure and considering how their decisions and actions impact others. This practice reveals strengths, weaknesses, biases and opportunities for growth — opening the door to meaningful change.
According to Harvard Business Review, high-performing professionals frequently engage in a habit of self-reflection.
Especially after experiences involving surprise, frustration or failure. These moments drive real learning and growth.
Self-reflection also helps leaders counteract “fundamental attribution error” — the tendency to blame others’ character rather than external factors. In the workplace, this might look like a manager who blames employees for productivity problems without recognizing their own role in creating or exacerbating these issues. Leaders who can’t acknowledge their role in team challenges risk damaging trust, accountability and morale. Selfreflection allows them to own their impact and adjust accordingly.
Here are five ways leaders can engage in self-reflection:
Create a habit of regularly contemplating your behavior and the decisions that you have made. Consider asking yourself the following questions daily, weekly or monthly:
• What decisions have I made about my employees and their performance recently? What factors went into making those decisions?
• What decisions have I made about our team processes and practices? Have I made changes that could negatively impact the team?
• What messages have I been sending
to the team recently? Have I been communicating positively or have I said things that could instill fear or confusion?
Consider your beliefs about your team members and look for patterns, inconsistencies and alternative explanations. Ask yourself:
• What beliefs do I have about my employees and their performance?
• What standards am I using to measure employee performance? Am I applying the same standards to the whole team or am I making exceptions for certain personnel?
• What assumptions am I making about why my staff are or are not performing well? Are there any factors outside of their control that could be hindering their success?
• Are there any alternative explanations for why my team is not meeting expectations?
Seek feedback from trusted sources to help provide you with perspectives you may not be considering. Here are three actions you could take today:
• Ask your peers about their managerial challenges and how they approach personnel issues.
• Work with a mentor to discuss solution options to team challenges.
• Get feedback from your manager about your communication and management style.
Important note: Self-reflection is not a replacement for a 360-degree evaluation. Using both in tandem will give you a complete picture of the value of your management style. You need feedback from your peers, leaders and subordinates to truly understand how you impact those around you.
Identify areas where your leadership skills could improve and seek out opportunities to grow. Taking ownership of your development shows a commitment to improving practices that affect your people. Ask yourself:
• My team isn’t working well together; what can I do to improve communication and trust amongst my staff?
• My delegation process appears to be failing. What leaders do we have that can coach me in this area?
The final action is to evaluate your historical impact as a people leader. While organizations should be evaluating leadership effectiveness over time, they often don’t. That’s why this step falls to you. It may feel uncomfortable, but if personal growth is your goal, it’s a critical exercise.
Start by looking back at everyone you’ve managed. Where are they now? What influence did your leadership have on their careers?
Here’s a powerful example: At one company, amid rumors of layoffs, a team chose to call their former leader — someone no longer with the company — for guidance, rather than turn to their current managers. The level of distrust was so high that employees saw expressing concern or frustrations to their direct leaders as a career risk.
Many managers rely on their own supervisor’s assessment or employee net promoter score (NPS) to gauge their leadership quality. But these measures don’t always reflect the full picture. For instance, if you’re modeling poor leadership traits from your own boss, it’s unlikely you’re developing into the kind of leader others want to follow. As for NPS, keep in mind that employees may be hesitant to be honest, especially if they fear retaliation or think their feedback won’t lead to meaningful change.
So, ask yourself: If the process of job hunting was reversed, would your leadership resume attract quality talent? Are you a leader who is worth following?
Use these questions to help evaluate your impact and value as a people leader:
• How many former employees were promoted while working for you? Are you developing future leaders?
• Have you mentored anyone? Do you take time to develop others?
• How many former employees were recognized for their work while reporting to you? Do you create a culture of excellence?
• Do you maintain good relationships with past employees? If not, why?
• If you left the company and offered a job to your current subordinates, would any opt to go with you? Are you a leader people want to continue to work with?
• How many former employees left the company — or were forced to leave — while under your management?
• How many employees took a leaveof-absence and didn’t return? Could your leadership style be a factor?
• Has anyone left your team for a lowerlevel role? This might suggest they preferred a demotion over remaining on your team.
It can be a bit scary to think about the answers to the questions above, but an honest account of your historical influence and impact as a leader can help you grow and become a leader who truly empowers others.
Self-reflection is a superpower that can help you identify biases, assumptions and opportunities for improvement. In doing so, this practice can help you strengthen your relationship with your team, your manager and your peers. So, put on your cape, flex your muscles and start exercising the strength of selfreflection today!
Shariem Saterfield, CPTM, is an ATD certified Master Performance Consultant with over 20 years of training and talent development experience. Shariem is the CEO of Saterfield Coaching & Consulting, where she provides coaching and professional development workshops to business professionals looking to reach new heights. Email Shariem.
ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION: IF THE PROCESS OF JOB HUNTING WAS REVERSED, WOULD YOUR LEADERSHIP RESUME ATTRACT QUALITY TALENT?
Explore our directory of 2,000+ L&D vendors. Search for and connect with verified training companies to solve your training needs.
LEADERSHIP
CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
COMPLIANCE
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
IT AND TECHNICAL TRAINING
LEARNING LIBRARIES
SALES TRAINING
Does your company provide training solutions? Sign up for a vendor listing.
DR. KRISTAL WALKER, CPTM
As training professionals, we’ve all been in a position where we’ve poured our heart and soul into creating comprehensive training plans, detailed learning objectives and training experiences with impressive delivery methods, only to wonder why the skills we train don’t always transfer to the workplace.
The reality is, if we are not paying attention to power dynamics, team trust and the subtle signals embedded in the workplace culture that prohibit learners from applying, adapting or growing, we are only doing half the job.
Real skills development can either thrive or diminish in the workplace’s everyday norms, dynamics and unspoken rules. If the culture does not support it, the skill will never transfer to real-world experiences, regardless of the number of training experiences we are solicited to create.
The good news is that we don’t have to overhaul our training strategy to create a more effective learning environment. We need to be more intentional about the conditions through which we offer training. Here are three key areas to focus on.
Skills do not exist in isolation — they operate in their relationships to outcomes. For example, knowing how to give feedback is one thing, but knowing when, why and with whom to give it is where the real impact happens. Context helps learners understand how their new skill leads to desired outcomes. We need to help learners understand our true objective from their point of view.
Put it into practice:
Add a “context checkpoint” to your modules. After teaching a skill, walk learners through common cultural or interpersonal variables they might face. For example, you might ask: How might this skill land differently across teams?
This simple approach builds empathy, sharpens awareness and prepares learners for real-world application.
Training should never be a one-and-done event, especially when addressing cultural challenges. Culture sends subtle signals about what is truly valued, what is safe to try and what happens when people challenge the status quo. If learners return to teams where their curiosity is silenced, their feedback is feared or their risk is punished, even the best-designed training efforts will quickly disappear.
Put it into practice:
Learning becomes sustainable when the environment supports it consistently. Create “learning in the flow of culture” moments. This could be as simple as:
• A five-minute team huddle to reflect on a training takeaway
• Peer shout-outs for applied skills
• Quick manager-led coaching prompts that connect back to the training experience
Over the last several years, we have made much progress in advocating for
and enabling access to training for all constituents. But access alone does not guarantee impact. True inclusion means removing the invisible barriers between learning and doing, so people do not just attend training but act on it without hesitation or fear.
Put it into practice:
Equip facilitators and leaders to recognize power dynamics during learning interactions. We should practice asking ourselves these questions during training experiences:
• Who’s dominating the space?
• Who could potentially be holding back? And why?
• Whose input gets validated, and whose doesn’t? Why?
Simple questions like these can make all the difference in real skills development. Usually, the answers are linked to the presence or absence of psychological safety — a prerequisite for skill-building.
The best training in the world cannot overcome a culture that contradicts it. If we want to build fundamental, lasting skills in our organizations, we must stop treating culture as a side dish and start treating it as the main course — one that serves up both learning objectives and real-world skills application. When we get this right, we have the power to transform organizations.
Dr. Kristal Walker, CPTM, SHRM-CP, is the senior vice president of human resources at Sweetwater Sound. Kristal is also a facilitator for Training Industry’s Certified Professional in Training Management (CPTM ) program. Email Kristal.
Training Industry Courses is committed to empowering learning leaders through a tailored suite of professional development programs. All courses are strategically designed to address the unique needs of training managers so that you can lead the change in the business of learning. View our featured courses for your professional development or explore the full course catalog below.
Leading Leadership Development Certificate
Gain the expertise to build effective leadership development programs.
Training Needs Assessment Certificate
Identify your training needs and fill the gap in your training programs.
Coming Soon:
AI Adoption and Workforce Readiness: Gain frameworks to design AI learning programs that drive workforce readiness and AI adoption.
The L&D Executive Program: Build the strategic, financial and operational capabilities you need to lead with confidence at the executive level.
VIEW THE CATALOG
AI Essentials for L&D Certificate
Learn the essentials to optimize AI for training and development solutions.
It happens in chemistry all the time: two elements come together to create something unique and powerful — and sometimes a breakthrough. We see this in organizational behavior, as well. It has almost become common practice to place two completely separate terms side by side, and in so doing, express distinctive meaning:
• Situational Leadership®
• Emotional Intelligence
• “Atomic Habits”
The term “courageous conversations” unquestionably has a place on that list.
SEEK TO UNDERSTAND WHAT’S TRULY IMPORTANT TO THE OTHER PERSON.
A conversation is an exchange of sentiments, observations, opinions or ideas. When you are in a conversation, there is a shared responsibility to speak, but far more importantly, to listen. This (thankfully) rules out two people yelling at each other, or one person dominating and another person submitting. In a true conversation, reason rules the day, safety defines the setting and spontanaeity is unencumbered.
Courage is defined as the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere and withstand danger, fear or difficulty. In effect, when you exhibit courage you are acknowledging the danger and risk that will inevitably present
itself on your path, but continuing on your journey nonetheless.
Now consider why putting the two concepts together is such a breakthrough in communication. When you initiate a courageous conversation, you are well aware of the danger and difficulty that may lie ahead for you, but you consciously commit to do whatever you can to remove any such barriers for the person with whom you engage.
With all of that in mind, consider the following necessary elements of a successful courageous conversation:
Judy Glaser brought attention to the importance of psychlogical safety in her classic book “Conversational Intelligence.” She described safety as a function of what is happening (or not happening) in the brains of the participants. If the brain senses danger, it quickly migrates into “fight or flight” mode. Either position is at direct odds with a successful conversation.
It is important to spend time in thoughtful consideration of how you can establish an honest, open and non-threatening tone when initiating a courageous conversation. Your ability to remove fear for your discussion partner has a direct impact on whether the conversation is meaningful or successful.
Frances Hesselbein , former CEO of the Girl Scouts, was obsessed with uncovering what made other
people tick. She had an innate talent for getting people to talk about themselves. As they did, she would dig and dig until, at some point, she had uncovered what was most important to that person and why. This practice of “conversational archeology” not only contributes to psycholgical safety, but it is a strong and necessary foundation for a courageous conversation.
Consider what conversations look like without this approach. Each participant would start out with what they need or want to say, then prepare to respond to resistance or opposition. This approach can (and frequently does) result in communication conflicts. When it comes time for a courageous conversation, remember Frances, and seek to understand what’s truly important to the other person.
What matters to you, and why? Have you thought it through? Do you know why you believe what you believe? Are you willing to put those beliefs to the test?
In all likelihood, engaging in a true courageous conversation will require you to articulate your perspective, in a non-judgmental manner, while being challenged by emotional opposition. Which, when you think about it, is probably why there are far fewer of these discussions than there should be!
Marshall Goldsmith is the world authority in helping successful leaders get even better. Sam Shriver is the executive vice president at The Center for Leadership Studies. Email Marshall and Sam.
Hosted by international thought leaders, Training Industry webinars provide timely and strategic information about the business of learning. Stay up to date on the latest trends to enhance your training strategies. Ready to leap into a galaxy of knowledge? Explore free webinars and on-demand content at www.trainingindustry.com/webinars.
JD DILLON
Who can do what?
This is the most important question in any workplace. You can’t get the job done without a capable team, and capabilities are evolving daily. That’s why it’s essential for managers to understand their teams’ skills — not just to fill roles, but to unlock agility across the organization.
We hear the word “skills” constantly, especially in learning and development (L&D). But skills are more than just a buzzword, they represent a significant opportunity to leverage data and technology to rethink how we structure work, develop talent and make strategic decisions at every level of the business.
Historically, skills data has been siloed within human resources (HR). L&D teams track training; skill platforms scrape assessments and job descriptions. But the result is often a narrow view of employee capability — useful for recommending content or fueling talent marketplaces but disconnected from broader business needs.
That needs to change.
As organizations adopt more advanced data strategies — from predictive analytics to machine learning — there’s a clear opportunity to use skills as a core input for automation, workforce planning and operational efficiency. But that shift only happens if we stop treating skills as an HR asset and start treating them as business intelligence.
Moving forward, L&D must integrate skills data into the broader business ecosystem to optimize talent, streamline operations and create real-time insights that drive growth. In fact, one part of the workforce is already showing what this looks like in practice: the front line.
As companies connect people systems with operational tools, they’re using skills data to make real-time decisions. In warehouses, it determines who can operate a forklift. In retail, it informs who gets scheduled for inventory tasks. In hospitality, it ensures the right employees are assigned to serve VIP guests. The same data that supports initiatives like cross-training and talent mobility can now inform everyday decisions.
L&D MUST INTEGRATE SKILLS DATA INTO THE BROADER BUSINESS ECOSYSTEM.
So, why have skills gained traction on the front line while struggling to take hold in corporate settings? The answer: Clarity and scale.
Front-line roles are clearly defined, with many employees performing similar tasks, making it easier to measure and apply skills across the workforce. In contrast, corporate environments often involve specialized roles, where it’s harder to standardize skill sets and apply them at scale.
The lesson: We don’t need to map every possible skill to make progress. Broad
taxonomies can be overwhelming and hard to apply. Instead, we should focus on the skills that matter most — define them clearly, measure them reliably and embed them into the systems that run the business. This approach ensures that L&D efforts have a direct, measurable impact on performance.
This is how L&D can move from supporting the business to powering it, driving smarter decisions, faster execution and more agile workforce planning.
Getting skills right is critical — to keep L&D relevant and to help employees navigate a changing workplace. A well-defined skills framework will enable smarter decisions, faster execution, improved growth and greater agility.
However, it’s important to remember that a skills profile is only part of the story. Two employees may have identical skills on paper but contribute in vastly different ways. As we build more data-driven, AI-powered workplaces, we can’t lose sight of the human element. Skills matter — but people are more than inputs. They’re the reason the system exists in the first place.
JD Dillon is a veteran talent development leader, former Disney cast member and author of “The Modern Learning Ecosystem.” With more than 25 years of experience in operations and talent development, JD now helps people do their best work every day as chief learning architect at Axonify and founder of LearnGeek. Email JD.
BY CHELSEA SMITSON, MHA, BSW, SHRM-CP, CPTM
When you tell the story of The Corken Steel Products Company, it ultimately comes down to one thing: people. Founded in 1955 in Covington, Kentucky, as a metal roofing supplier, Corken has since evolved into a diversified wholesale distributor serving the roofing, HVAC, fabrication and applied products markets. From the beginning, Corken’s founders believed exceptional customer service was the “secret sauce” that set the company apart. That belief continues to drive the company forward today, with many noting the phrase “The answer is yes, now what is the question?”
“NO MATTER WHAT THE TOPIC OR AUDIENCE, IF UTILIZED, TRAINING IS THE PATH TO UNDERSTANDING AND SUCCESS.”
— JEFF CORKEN, PRESIDENT
In 2020, Corken deepened its commitment to its people by becoming a 100% employee-owned company through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). This transformation was
more than a business restructuring, it was a reaffirmation of the company’s belief that its long-term success lies in the hands of those who build it every day.
By 2022, Corken’s leadership recognized the need to make a bold investment in training — not just for contractors, but also for its employeeowners. While training had always been part of Corken’s operations, it lacked consistency, structure and long-term vision. To address this, the company formally committed to growing its training program as a core business strategy.
A full-time training coordinator was hired to lead the effort — elevating training from an ad hoc responsibility to a dedicated, strategic function. This role was designed to serve two key audiences: Corken’s contractor partners and its employee-owners.
The initial goal of the revamped training initiative was straightforward: Provide better support in a rapidly evolving industry. With constant changes in products, regulations and technologies, staying current is critical. The new program established two clear training tracks — one for external contractor partners and one for internal employee development.
To support this mission, Corken built a state-of-the-art training suite at its Florence, Kentucky corporate office. The facility includes a modern classroom for lectures and a hands-on training lab equipped with live-fire equipment. This combination enables both theoretical learning and practical experience in a safe, controlled environment.
Over time, the benefits became clear. The program strengthened relationships with vendors and contractors while empowering employees with skills that contributed directly to their growth and the company’s success.
Corken’s commitment to high-quality training hasn’t gone unnoticed. With the support of HVAC vendor partners, Corken’s training events have received national recognition. These sessions not only showcase new products and innovations but also provide opportunities to strengthen relationships and share critical industry knowledge.
Corken Steel’s most influential training event is the annual Home Comfort Expo. In August 2024, the company hosted its 15th Home Comfort Expo, drawing over 600 contractors, vendors, employees and community partners for a full day of hands-on learning.
The event takes place on a scenic farm in Aurora, Indiana, overlooking the Ohio River. Attendees are divided into six groups and transported by hay wagons to various training stations. At each stop, they learn about industry changes, product updates and technical training. Participants travel from across the continental United States to attend this unique and immersive event. Contractors are able to receive continuing education for their professional licenses.
THE GOAL ISN’T TO MANDATE TRAINING BUT TO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE PEOPLE CHOOSE TO ENGAGE — WHERE TRAINING IS SEEN AS AN OPPORTUNITY, NOT AN OBLIGATION.
No initiative is without its challenges. Corken piloted a learning management system (LMS) tailored to HVAC industry knowledge, but adoption proved difficult due to scheduling conflicts and competing priorities. However, the experience yielded valuable insights: Employees gravitate toward microlearning embedded in their daily workflow. These lessons now shape the way training is designed and delivered. In-person learning works best with Corken’s employee owners often alongside the contractor partners.
The HVAC industry has experienced significant transformation in recent years— from evolving SEER regulations (including SEER2 in 2023) to the shift toward A2L refrigerants. Corken’s contractors rely on the company for not only products but also for guidance through these transitions. The training department, in partnership with technical service advisors (TSAs),
manufacturers and vendors, ensures both customer technicians and business owners are informed and prepared.
This approach extends internally as well. Employee-owners have access to the same training as customers, keeping them aligned with product changes and industry trends. With nearly 400 employee-owners, this shared knowledge is a cornerstone of Corken’s operational strength.
Corken’s training program follows the seasonal rhythms of the HVAC industry. During the slower spring and fall (shoulder seasons), the program ramps up. The training coordinator works closely with sales and vendor teams to deliver sessions aligned with the changing needs of the industry.
Now entering its third year, the program continues to expand. With rising contractor demand, Corken plans to grow the team by adding a dedicated trainer while maintaining close collaboration with the TSAs. The training coordinator, a Certified Professional in Training Management (CPTM), leads with a focus on both structure and flexibility.
The evolution of Corken’s training culture is tangible. In the Eddie Neville Business Suite at corporate headquarters, a photo from the 1980s shows a TV strapped to a rolling cart with a VCR — a symbol of how far the company has come. What began as a necessity has become a true differentiator.
For customers, Corken’s training sets it apart from other wholesale distributors. For employee-owners, it’s a pathway to advancement. From the earliest stages of their careers, employees are introduced to the value of self-development and given access to a wide range of learning opportunities.
After all, knowledge is something that, once gained, can never be taken away.
Like many organizations, Corken faces logistical challenges in delivering training. One of the biggest is geographic reach. The farther an employee is from the Florence training center, the harder it is to access in-person sessions. The company addresses this through virtual offerings and partnerships with vendors and professional organizations to bring training closer to their location.
Another challenge is timing. With customer satisfaction as the top priority, pulling employees away from daily responsibilities for training is never easy. The same holds true for contractors — removing staff from the field, even temporarily, can affect productivity. Finding uninterrupted time for learning in such a demand-driven industry remains an ongoing balancing act.
Through it all, Corken’s leadership has remained steadfast in its support. From dedicating space and resources to investing in talent, the commitment is clear. The goal isn’t to mandate training but to create an environment where people choose to engage — where training is seen as an opportunity, not an obligation.
As Corken Steel continues to grow, so too does its belief in training as a strategic advantage. By prioritizing learning and development, the company strengthens not only its workforce but also the vast network of contractors, vendors and partners that fuel its success. At Corken, training isn’t just about information, it’s about transformation.
Chelsea Smitson, MHA, BSW, SHRMCP, CPTM, training and development coordinator for Corken Steel, began her professional career in health care administration, where she found a passion for training and development. Her greatest fulfillment comes from helping individuals grow their skills and achieve success. Email Chelsea.
Despite economic uncertainty and budget constraints, companies are continuing to prioritize leadership training. In fact, according to Training Industry market research, 58% of learning and development (L&D) professionals say leadership development is a high-priority initiative in their organization. As the demand for leadership training remains steady, training providers are evolving to better meet that need.
In May 2025, Mindtools, a leadership skills development provider owned by Cambridge Information Group (CIG), announced the acquisition of Kineo, a global provider of workplace learning solutions, from City & Guilds.
Shabnam Shahani, CEO of Mindtools, says there were two drivers for the acquisition — one internal and one external.
Internally, “We felt that this acquisition helped to accelerate Mindtools’ growth strategy,” which is “underpinned by diversification both of our product portfolio as well as our revenue streams,” Shahani says. Kineo’s robust product offerings and international footprint make it a strong fit to support that expansion.
Externally, factors such as the shifting state of the L&D market, changing learner expectations and new technologies made it clear that L&D providers need scale, agility and, above all, a “laser-like focus” on innovation and enhancing learner outcomes, Shahani says. “Those were the two key drivers for the acquisition.”
In addition to strengthening its presence in the UK and the U.S., the acquisition will help Mindtools expand its global reach
BY SARAH GALLO, CPTM
into high-growth regions, including Latin America, Asia Pacific and South Africa.
Beyond global expansion, acquiring Kineo “broadens our value proposition,” Shahani says. While Mindtools has traditionally focused on leadership and management skills, the combined organization now also offers compliance and onboarding solutions among other domain areas.
There are “significant synergies” between Kineo and Mindtools, which are both overlapping and complementary across products, markets and customers, as well as across L&D expertise and thought leadership, Shahani says.
Mindtools brings research-backed leadership and management skills development solutions, content mastery and deep L&D expertise, while Kineo adds capabilities in learning technology, instructional design, onboarding, compliance, custom content and analytics.
Coming together “aligns with our ambition to be a leading partner for workplace learning, allowing us to offer both a comprehensive and a complementary set of solutions to meet a broader spectrum of learning and development needs,” Shahani says. This includes offering both off-theshelf and bespoke learning solutions.
For now, Mindtools and Kineo will operate as standalone businesses “to ensure continuity for our customers as well as for our teams,” Shahani says. A dedicated program office staffed with integration specialists, both in-house and external, will guide the integration process and a recently announced leadership team — with talent from both Mindtools and Kineo — will help guide the organization forward.
“Over time, we’ll become a unified business aligned under a shared brand, vision and operating model,” Shahani says. “But we’ll take the time to do that very thoughtfully.”
In the short term, the goal is to bring the two businesses together “in a meaningful way that unlocks greater value for our customers,” Shahani says. The long-term ambition is to create “the most customercentric, outcomes-focused, end-to-end workplace learning solutions provider in the market.”
To do so, key focus areas include:
• Driving innovation in new products and business models
• Expanding the combined company’s global reach
• Investing in research and thought leadership
The companies aim to build on Mindtools’ 30-year legacy of research-informed learning and Kineo’s two decades of delivering market leading learning innovation. “We want to continue with that legacy and that heritage across the combined business,” Shahani says.
Together, Kineo and Mindtools are offering a “powerful new option,” Shahani says — a single partner that can deliver everything from strategic learning advice to training solutions at scale.
“We’re just getting started,” Shahani says. “And we’re really excited about the journey ahead.”
Sarah Gallo, CPTM, is a senior editor at Training Industry, Inc., and co-host of “The Business of Learning,” the Training Industry podcast. Email Sarah.
Multiverse , a leader in personalized, on-the-job learning programs, and Skillable, a pioneer in hands-on learning and skill validation, announced a strategic partnership to enhance workforce training through practical, experiential learning. By combining strengths, Multiverse and Skillable empower employers with a scalable solution that ensures professionals can confidently apply technical skills in real-world settings.
CodeSignal , a skills assessment and experiential learning platform, announces a strategic partnership with Go1, a learning content provider, to deliver an expanded catalog of skills and practice-based training to support technical, customer success and go-to-market roles. This partnership enables companies to access cutting-edge AI learning experiences,
combining a personalized AI tutor with hands-on learning.
SimX , a leader in virtual reality (VR) healthcare training, and Elevate Healthcare, formerly CAE Healthcare, announce a strategic collaboration. This partnership combines SimX’s advanced VR simulation platform with Elevate’s expertise in physical simulation and medical education to revolutionize healthcare training and improve patient outcomes across clinical and academic environments.
GoodHabitz , a leading online learning provider, has partnered with Cornerstone OnDemand, a workforce agility leader. They will integrate 50 of GoodHabitz’s top courses in 22 languages into Cornerstone’s Content Subscriptions, creating tailored learning
Traliant, an online compliance training company, announced new deescalation training specifically tailored for the retail and hospitality sectors. Designed to provide front-line employees with the skills and confidence to defuse conflict, the interactive courses create safer, more respectful workplaces. This training teaches employees how to stay calm, recognize the early signs of escalation, set boundaries and respond with empathy.
The Regis Company, an AI-powered skills practice platform, announced the launch of Jumpstart, its latest
offering enabling L&D professionals to create custom, simulation-based training modules with 70% of the work completed on day one. Jumpstart addresses the critical frustration facing so many L&D teams: delivering highquality skills training that helps them keep pace with the speed of change.
Janek Performance Group, a provider of sales training and consulting services, launches JeniusCC, an AIdriven sales coaching platform that integrates with existing tools to deliver real-time, personalized coaching. Built on 20 years of proven methodology, Jenius supports continuous skill development for sales teams, offering AI-powered insights, coaching nudges, and workflow integration.
pathways to meet the needs of today’s diverse workforce.
Lumber , the leading construction workforce management platform, acquired BuilderFax, a digital credential management platform for craft workers. This integration combines BuilderFax’s credential wallet with Lumber’s AIpowered suite, creating a unique solution to tackle workforce challenges and help skilled professionals advance their careers.
Mindtools , a global leadership skills provider owned by Cambridge Information Group, has acquired Kineo, a workplace learning solutions provider, from City & Guilds. This strategic move aims to advance learning innovation and expand access to workplace learning for more customers worldwide.
Intrepid by VitalSource has launched AI Activity, an embedded feature that delivers personalized, practice-based learning at scale. Unlike external AI tools, it integrates directly into Intrepid’s collaborative environment, enabling real-time coaching, adaptive roleplays and feedback-rich simulations. AI Activity supports leadership, sales, onboarding, and more.
trainingindustry.com/top-training-companies