The Future of Work is Now

Michelle BB 00:00:07 The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Skillsoft. Welcome to The Edge, a Skillsoft podcast for learners and leaders alike. In every episode, we engage in candid thought provoking conversations on the topic of learning and growth in the workplace. And as I sit here recording a very special two-part episode of the edge, I really need to say this, oh my gosh, what a ride it has been today marks the final chapter of season two. Don't you worry. We are already working on season three, growing and expanding this platform, bringing to you our listeners, even bigger, bolder and braver stories in 2022. Now on this theme of reflection, if there has one thing that we've learned in 2021, it's that we never stop learning. And this is a mantra that we live and breathe here at Skillsoft, which is why I am thrilled that this episode is focused on our recently released annual learning report, lean into learning, which illuminates the latest trends and learning based on proprietary and third-party research as well as our own learning consumption data.

Michelle BB 00:01:18 Now, these trends along with inspiring customer stories, with contributions, from members of our Skillsoft leadership team perspectives from top analysts and more that's what makes up this year's report. And it offers insight into the current state of learning the organizational social and cultural changes that are happening in the workforce today. And of course, we'd be remiss if we didn't add our predictions for the future. And look, if there's one key message, this report tells us it's this, the future of work is now when we published last year's learning to learning report. We wrote about the eye of the storm because that's where we suddenly found ourselves. It was the height of the pandemic work. As we knew had changed irrevocably, we were seeing workforce transformation happened in real time, massive, massive shifts in the way people work. But over this past year, while there's still tremendous uncertainty, we have begun to ease out of this crisis mode.

Michelle BB 00:02:17 And so many organizations have had to rethink reimagine and reinvent the way that work gets done, the ways in which they retain their people and the ways in which they transform their talent. And that's what we're going to be discussing today. And I am so honored to be joined by two very special guests, Christie Hummel, Skillsoft's chief people, officer and Sheree Hicks, a leadership development strategist and learning manager at train technologies. Now Christie recently joined Skillsoft as chief people, officer bringing with her more than 25 years of experience leading people's strategies for global technology companies, including building and leading best practice programs for talent, acquisition, retention, and development, workforce planning comp and benefits and performance management. And prior to Skillsoft, Christy, most recently served as senior vice president of human resources at Dell technologies where she led the talent and culture organization. Needless to say, we are so fortunate to have a leader like Christie, as part of our executive leadership team, Sherry Hicks brings more than 15 years of experience in leadership development and program management to her role at Trane, they are, she manages globally diverse high potential cohort programs and leadership development courses with a center of excellence per participants from across all of train's enterprise brands.

Michelle BB 00:03:42 And these programs include a women's leadership program, gender equity in leadership learning path and the women in action leadership development program. Something we are going to learn more about today. Shari considers herself a learning technology champion, and that is something we love to hear at Skillsoft. And she's got experience developing and implementing virtual learning strategies, using a variety of different platforms, but I'm going to start today's conversation with my colleague Christie, Hummel, Christie, thank you so much for joining us on the edge.

Kristi 00:04:16 So excited to be here. And I, you know, the love goes right back to you and be big.

Michelle BB 00:04:22 This is going to be a love Fest. Everyone. I look Chrissy, I have already talked about your professional experience, just so you know, so we don't have to rehash that, but I do want to give our listeners a little bit more insight into who you are. So we are introducing something we call the quick lightning round. Are you ready?

Kristi 00:04:38 I think so. Okay.

Michelle BB 00:04:42 In the spirit of the time that we are recording this Olympics, winter or summer

Kristi 00:04:48 Winter, I love to watch the skiing sometimes watch the skating, depending upon who's in it. Any of the watching this year though. So I've got two behind,

Michelle BB 00:05:00 You have some catch-up to do on peacock. Yeah. All right. Favorite movie genre and movie.

Kristi 00:05:07 Um, favorite movie John rhe would be a, I have a ten-year-old I'm working mom. And so one of the things I love is watching movies that I grew up with with her and seeing it all through her eyes. So home alone, the parent trap night at the museum that now is my new favorite genre. I don't know if I really have a favorite out of all of them. Uh, but, uh, it is a favorite pastime of mine right now.

Michelle BB 00:05:35 Oh my God. I love that. All right. Tick, tick or no tick tock.

Kristi 00:05:40 A little bit of both. So, um, I love Tik TOK videos. I love watching Tik TOK videos. I will never, ever, ever do a Tik TOK video,

Michelle BB 00:05:52 Famous last words, Christy trusts coming in one day and we're doing a tick to out together. All right. And then the last one, one subject you'd like to learn more about, because of course we're a learning company. Yeah,

Kristi 00:06:05 It's a really good, good question. Um, Michelle, I think about, you know, as the world becomes more technical, you know, one of the things that I've even been reflecting on is, I don't know whether I've kept up my own technical skills as fast as I should be. And I, and I'm starting to, uh, I don't know whether it's, I'm creeping into kind of bolder age, but I'm starting to feel like, you know, again, my ten-year-old is more comfortable with some technology than even I am. And so this is something that I really want to, uh, go refocus on this year and reprioritize,

Michelle BB 00:06:39 All right, we can do that together. Cause you know what I've been feeling quite the same way. And by the way, I love this. I, I learned something new about you even in just that short period of time, but let's move on to this topic at hand, which, which kind of goes back to that last question. We want to talk about our lean into learning report, which revealed a lot. I think about the learning landscape and its role in workforce transformation over the past year. And I think we, we recognize these are critical times for businesses, right? A recent study from Deloitte published in fortune found that nearly three out of four corporate CEOs view the labor shortage as the top external issue they're facing. And additionally, that same study found that the U S is down approximately 5 million workers from pre pandemic levels. So Christie in an age where we might be seeing a new type of worker, where is where there might be less a sense of duty, more of a need for opportunity and fulfillment, what are we going to do to attract and retain our best talent?

Kristi 00:07:44 Oh wow. Michelle, that's a, it's a, that's a big question. I think if I started with, you know, let's look at kind of where employees are today, you know, we know employees are reassessing their priorities when it comes to their career. You know, we hear kind of over and over again, the tag phrase of the great resignation and you know, I know other people are interpreting that different with the great contemplation or, you know, kind of the great kind of career of awakening, but there's these taglines out in the media. And I think it just kind of is a reflection of the way today's employees are thinking, you know, we've got, you know, we're, we're coming kind of out of a pandemic. Hopefully the economy has been fantastic. We see digital transformation happening kind of faster and faster than ever creating jobs that didn't exist 10 years ago.

Kristi 00:08:32 And so we see kind of, you know, and we see the next generation coming into the workforce, really focused on mission and purpose. And I think all of these dynamics are coming together and starting to redefine how we think about work, how we think about careers and the skills that we need in order to go move forward with that. So, and we also see kind of team, not even team members, but employees kind of in any company, you know, starting to make moves based upon that focus. So, you know, we know that, um, manpower has told us the 69% of employers, employers are struggling to fill positions and leaders across industries are feeling that pinch. So IDC tells us that digital transformation is it relates to the skill for digital transformation will affect 90% of organizations by 2025 skills gaps will cost more than 6.5 trillion globally.

Kristi 00:09:31 Deloitte tells us that the skills gap in manufacturing can leave as many as 2.1 million jobs unfulfilled. We know from the national association of home builders and the survey that they just conducted, that 85% of construction firms expect their future cost and availability to be problematic due to the lack of skilled workers. So you have kind of like two different things going on. You've got the police thinking about what they want out of their careers in a different way. And then you have employers with these gaps on skills. And so I think as it becomes more challenging for employers to, to go hire those skills in the market, there's going to be a renewed focus on developing those skills in the employees that they have today. And I think that's where kind of, you know, the, what, when an employee wants out of an employer and what an employer needs can come together in a new way.

Kristi 00:10:29 When we start to go articulate what is the skills that we need in our company and how do we go get employer employees, those skills. And for me, that strategy piece, and sorry if I'm going off too much on a tangent it's, it's no different to me than kind of the conversation that companies have been having about DEI in the last 10 years. Everybody knows it's a problem. Everybody is focused on solving that problem, but yet the progress has just been incremental. And I know what our DEI experts tell us. They tell us, you know, point solutions aren't going to work. There's going to be kind of a kind of systemic kind of end-to-end way companies have to approach this in order to go kind of create more diverse and more inclusive environments. It is no different than the skill, the skill issue everyone is talking about.

Kristi 00:11:22 Re-skilling everyone is talking about moving from a, from two, a two state to state, but employers are still kind of stuck in the old paradigm of, well, I'm just going to go get someone the skill and, you know, the business result will be different. That is not happening. We've got to go think about skills in a totally different way. And I think, you know, when we do that, businesses will be more successful. And, and the, the team members who work for those kinds of companies will also continue to see growth and thus be more likely to be retained. So I think that's kind of the, the next part of the dialogue we've got to have across the HR community and, um, and you know, the, the leader community.

Michelle BB 00:12:08 So I found that really interesting. Um, and in, in all of that, there was kind of an aha for me, Christie, which is if organizations want to attract and retain their best talent, which they do, they have to direct their attention to supporting their employees career growth and talent development. And that's something around career pathing, right? How do I ensure that not only you have the skills, but you know, that those skills are going to be valuable here and you want to stay here and, and in doing so, how do I, as an HR leader, as a line of business leader, become a champion of learning and make sure that the things you need to re skill and up-skill are available accessible, and, and that you have the ability as an employee to avail yourselves of all of that. That's not easy. That's an enterprise wide learning agenda. That prioritizes skill building. I can't imagine that's an easy lift.

Kristi 00:13:09 No, it's not. It's not Michelle. And I think there's two parts to the way our business leaders need to approach this. The first is understanding kind of what is the skill and capability they need in the organization, not only for today, but for tomorrow, and what's the roadmap to go get there. And then there's a second part, which I think is emerging now more than ever in the workforce of today, but it's wonderful. Our people aspire to be. So I think for too long, you know, there was an assumption of every software engineer level. One wants to be a software engineer, level two, and, you know, nowhere was there a dialogue of what happens if that software engineer actually wants to be the COO of one day and how do we actually go help that person stay within our company, uh, but develop skills to meet their own aspiration. And so for me, that's an important new part of the dialogue that needs to happen in the employer employee relationship is to really kind of understand what are your, the aspirations of your team member. Because if you can't give them a path to how they can start to make progress against those aspirations, someone else will. And that's why we see, you know, some of this, this great resignation happening.

Michelle BB 00:14:22 Yeah. You know, you, you reminded me of just like this amazing story. And I feel like I need to tell it. And I don't think she'll mind that I'm telling her story, but we have a woman on my team. They'll ward, she's been here over seven years here at Skillsoft. And when I started at the company, she ran graphic design. That's what she did. She was the creative director. And, you know, I think we, we realized and she realized that she wanted something different in her career. And fast forward two and a half years later, she is now a certified master running our PMO and like crushing it Kristy. Right? So, so when I think about what you just said, it's not just this abstract, theoretical thing. This can really happen. We can move people. We can give them new skills and upskill them to take on new careers that are exciting.

Michelle BB 00:15:13 And, and that's where I get like super pumped. And, you know, when we look at this particular year's report, I think the urgency for this idea of upskilling is underscored by not just, you know, organizations like us, but bodies like the world economic forum and in their 2021 insight report upskilling for shared prosperity, they found that wide-scale scale investment in upskilling has the potential to boost GDP by 6.5 trillion with a T and lead to the net creation of millions of new jobs. Now I think though, this is all well and good, but it's going to move us into a new theme or the next theme as we talk about this year's report, which is really the future of work, because you can't talk about re-skilling and up-skilling, if you don't talk about where the workforce is moving and the model that is becoming more prevalent, which is hybrid the days of clocking and five days a week heading to an office and staying there eight plus hours, it's not a reality and it's not going to be making a return anytime soon.

Michelle BB 00:16:22 And rather we've seen over the past year. And, and I think we've heard from our own customers that lots of companies either plan to shift to hybrid or fully remote, right. To meet employee demands for things that you talked about before, which are personal flexibility and autonomy, which means that companies have to help their workforce not only build the skills for success, but do so in a hybrid model. And I don't know if you know this, but in this particular report, the lean and learning report the second year in a row, our top Skillsoft aspire journey was virtual work in the new normal. So Christie, I want to hear your perspective on what you think organizations need to consider as they build out these hybrid work models to keep people connected, as well as the hybrid learning models to ensure that we can skill everyone.

Kristi 00:17:11 The question one down I T I S now struggle with the word hybrid and what it actually means in, um, in this new world. And, you know, to me, you know, I think we've actually moved past hybrid. And we're now in this place where we understand, you know, employees want flexibility and flexibility is it's not like it's a better word. It's another kind of like big word subject to a lot of interpretation, but we know that, you know, as it relates to workplace, you know, many employees, uh, you know, the workplace, they have defined their workplace over the last two years. You know, we know many employees are looking for more control over kind of where work gets done. And we know when we see employers really moving towards this whole concept of, you know, work as an outcome and the workplace, you know, can be, can be more flexible depending upon the industry and the environment.

Kristi 00:18:14 Um, and I would say that, you know, we know that not all jobs, you know, is it easy to go change workplace? You think about manufacturing, you think about kind of medical workers or, you know, police or fire, and those jobs where, you know, the workplace is, is tied to, or work is tied to a workplace. Um, but I think even in those types of roles, we're starting to see this concept of flexibility. And I was talking to a colleague of mine who leads HR for a manufacturing company. And, you know, though kind of many of their team members and employees are, are, you know, still kind of coming into the traditional workplace. They have started to think about flexibility in a new way. And so, you know, part of, one of the things that they've done is, you know, for, I think there's about 25 hours of training that's required for their team members, you know, as opposed to kind of having their, their manufacturing team members come in and sit in a room and, you know, go through, you know, digital training together.

Kristi 00:19:16 They've given those, those team members, the ability for, for flexibility to do that 25 hours of training on their own time, you know, when, uh, when makes sense for them. So I think there's this whole concept of flexibility, even in those traditional roles where workplace and work are, are tied to each other. Um, so think about kind of what the hybrid learning model looks like. I'm reflecting on a conversation. I had a few weeks ago with, um, Katie Tynan, who's brilliant principal analyst from Forrester really specializing in the future of work. And, and she was part of, uh, of a speaking series that Skillsoft had, uh, had hosted. And so during that conversation, she brought out a few trends that they're seeing at Forrester that I thought were really interesting. You know, the first is this whole kind of concept around humanizing and personalizing the learning experience.

Kristi 00:20:13 And, and for me kind of personalization is across a few, a few dimensions, and it goes back to some, you know, my earlier comments around, you know, not making an assumption that every team member's aspiration is the job that's immediately in front of them on the career ladder. It could be, you know, I always talk about kind of, you know, the career ladder has gone away now, it's almost like a bowl of spaghetti and you can go kind of follow that, that piece of spaghetti anywhere you want to go. But I think in the personalization of learning, I think there's another aspect to it, which is this assumption that, you know, all team members need the same exact, uh, learning, and they're all coming in with the same base level knowledge, uh, piece. And so I think the personalization is not just about the modality of learning or kind of translating and aspiration into a career path, but it's all about kind of, you know, where is the, where's the, the baseline of learning today within that individual and how do you actually go, go continue to grow that?

Kristi 00:21:14 So I thought that part of the conversation was really interesting. The second thing that, that she said that, uh, you know, is, uh, is influencing learning methods. And we even see this within, within Skillsoft and the work that we're doing for our own clients, but you know, this whole reimagination of the classroom experience, I mean, think about kind of digital learning 10 years ago, it was, you know, a voice over PowerPoint, uh, you know, who is at the end. And I mean, it was painful and, and what the pandemic taught us as well, as, you know, it's not easy to go take kind of those traditional classroom learning experiences and just kind of pivot that into a digital learning experience, right? It's, it comes across kind of, you know, very different in a digital, digital learning and digital learning gives you the ability to go kind of put in a whole bunch of kind of new new media, you know, for, you know, really customized to the learner themselves.

Kristi 00:22:14 Some people are visual learners, some people are, you know, more audio learners, some people, you know, like kind of mixed media and that really keeps interest levels. So, you know, I think the, the, the technology advances in digital learning from those days of voiceover IP, you know, have really like lended themselves to more personalized learning, meeting the learner where they are, uh, as well. And the final piece that she talked about was, um, this whole kind of concept of kind of agile and team-based, uh, collaborative learning experiences. And I'm going to go off on my, my, um, my soap box here, Michelle, I know you've heard this before, but as we kind of move into this new error as companies are, um, is companies are starting to kind of adopt flexibility and team members aren't together the way they used to be around the ping pong table or the water cooler, you know, every company is really kind of starting to think about what does collaboration look like?

Kristi 00:23:19 What does connection look like? How do we stay connected to each other? And how do we stay connected to our company in a virtual world, in a digital world. And, you know, one of the ways to go do that in a really effective, impactful way is through social learning and putting team members on learning journeys together. And I think that's going to be a really important way that companies can really create those connection points with employees and help and help employees build relationships with each other. You have a relationship with someone when you have a relationship with your peers, with your manager, with your, you know, when you are embedded kind of in kind of your, your company. You're not going to go take that phone call that comes, you know, uh, you know, offering you a hundred dollars more to, you know, to move to a different company because you're loyal. And so it's all about building these relationships and finding ways to do that into the digital world. And I think development is going to be a great part of that conversation and way to do that.

Michelle BB 00:24:19 Yeah. And as we, as we talk about this need to w what I'm hearing is, you know, invest in our people, build this culture of learning in the hybrid flexible workforce. Um, let's, let's talk for a moment about the skills themselves, because while we've discussed so far or what we've discussed, it, it demonstrates the mission critical need for up-skilling and re-skilling to prepare organizations for the future of work. I think the challenge still really lies in determining which roles require which skills, and then what competencies people need to develop to ensure that we are evolving our organizations, that we are thinking about what skills we need now, but also in the future. And so, as we looked at learning consumption data from this year's report, Christy, I guess maybe I'd ask you, what do you see as the top skills that organizations need to make an investment in? And, and then the second part, cause you know, I don't make this easy on anyone. How do organizations strive to stay ahead of what is really a rapidly evolving, shifting environment in which skills are constantly evolving?

Kristi 00:25:42 Yeah, I guess I'd start kind of my answer with, with a few things. You know, we know that organizations are shifting their mindset towards learning because we see technology outpacing skills. We've talked about this for 10 years, technology outpacing skills, but like, you know, kind of the, uh, the future is here. The future is now we see technology outpacing skills. We see skills that were in the mans five years ago, six years ago are not in demand today. You know, we see kind of, um, roles that didn't exist 10 years ago. And if, you know, not only existing today, but, um, you know, but kind of continuing to kind of change even the, um, the skills needed within the roles themselves. So I'm thinking about things like, I don't know, social media, influencer, cloud architect, you know, telemedicine, uh, drone operator. I have, you know, technology has really changed and evolved and introduced, uh, these new, these new roles.

Kristi 00:26:44 And we, we know what our customers are consuming in Percipio. So, you know, if we look at kind of what are our most consumed topics and what topics are most in demand, we know that it and technology related topics are most in demand. We know security is, is, uh, is something that we see our, our customers consuming agile development, but, you know, and, and, and there's also the kind of the soft skills that go along with that of, you know, what does unconscious bias look like? How do you build trust? So we kind of see these skills being consumed. We know roles are going to change, and we see that, you know, th the pace is, is fast. And so for me, it's going to be really confusing to be an employee and not, you know, if you don't understand this, if your company kind of, hasn't shared what evolution looks like in skill and is putting you on a path to go, actually be able to take advantage of that, you're going to be left behind, who wants to no one wants to be left behind.

Kristi 00:27:48 So for me, the best employers out there are the ones that are communicating to their employees, making it really clear what the vision looks like even to the, to the best of knowledge that they know it, you know, no one can predict the future. Um, and really contextualizes life, certain skills are, are something that, you know, need to be built up for the capability of tomorrow and then providing the avenues and the opportunities for employees to go with elect and practice and put those skills to work. And so I think that's kind of the, uh, I guess the word of advice, word of advice, and the word of warning. I, you know, but like, that's kind of where this, this is all headed. And so, you know, the more thoughtful I think an employer is around the future and the more, the more that dialogue is happening internally, the better off the team members are going to be.

Michelle BB 00:28:39 I think that's, I think that's great. And, you know, look, I've, I've loved our conversation. I love every one of our conversations. And, and I'm sorry, this one's going to be coming to an end shortly before we get to my favorite question, which is a question I ask everyone, um, I'm going to introduce something new into this particular episode, because I feel like it's really important that we share what we're learning. And I, I want to share with everyone out there, uh, Percipio course that I just took that I'm telling you mindblowing. And I know you're all gonna say, oh my gosh, what was it? What amazing course did you take? Michelle planning, meetings fit for purpose? And if I walk away with nothing else, it is that the one question I have to ask is, is this a meeting or is it an email?

Michelle BB 00:29:25 And I will tell you that this particular course has shifted the way I think about meetings. And I am so grateful for it. And, you know, I think it's that kind of thing. When we can learn something that we can apply and it has value, oh my gosh, changer. So that's my one go out. Percipio planning, meetings fit for purpose. All right, Christie, I've got one final question for you. And it is one that I have asked every single one of my guests since we started the edge, but in the spirit of talking about the year 2021, we're going to adjust it a little bit for today's episode. Oh, and it's a three parter. So get ready. As we reflect on the past year, we have all had incredibly different experiences when it comes to the impact that 2021 has had on our lives. So in the spirit of this three parter first, what have you learned about yourself in 2021 second? How are you going to apply what you've learned in the flow of your work or life as we kick off 2022? And finally, what advice might you share with others based on what you've personally been learning and applying? So learned, applied and advice go,

Kristi 00:30:43 Oh, Michelle. Okay. So here's what I would say. You know, so far this year, I'll go back to my earlier comments. I've learned that technology is outpacing my skillset, and I've got to actually focus on keeping up and, and being able to apply those skills, or I'm going to be left behind how I'm actually applying what I've learned. I have, I have signed up and subscribed to a few Percipio journeys on Excel, on PowerPoint, and, uh, I'm going to go rock those journeys. And, and I, in my advice would be, I'm going to give this out to kind of similar advice to two different audiences of listening right now, you know, as kind of all of us as employees in this kind of future of work that is now workplace, you know, really think about how you're keeping up with your skills and what are the best ways to actually go apply those skills.

Kristi 00:31:35 You know, if you are in human resources or a leader role where you are responsible for, you know, helping to skill, and re-skill your, your team members, I would, I would say a couple of things. You know, one be really clear on what your strategy is and how you're going to go, uh, adopt that strategy. We don't want this to be a deep DEI redo over the last 10 years. And then finally, uh, I will, I will, uh, I thought it was a fascinating read for me as an HR professional, but the Skillsoft lean into learning report was amazing this year. And it's, you know, our own work. You know, I am thinking about with the lens of how I actually helped my own company, uh, with, uh, applying some of these learnings and, uh, you know, I would encourage anyone out there in an HR leadership role to do the same. So Michelle, this has been super fun. I hope I get invited back again. I'm going to become a regular guest on your show, but this has been fantastic. I really want to thank you.

Michelle BB 00:32:39 Well, trust me, you will, you will be invited back for season three. I promise you that. And I agree with Kristy. If you haven't downloaded the lean into learning report, what are you waiting for? Go to skillsoft.com. You can find it there. And please, if you are just finishing this episode now, what do you want to do? Go to part two and listen to my conversation with Sherry Hicks, from train technologies. I promise you it will be just as fun and exciting, but to all of you out there, keep listening, keep learning and be well.

Michelle BB 00:00:07 The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Skillsoft. Welcome to the edge, a Skillsoft podcast for learners and leaders alike. You know, this every episode we're engaging in candid thought provoking conversations on the topic of learning and growth in the workplace. And welcome back to a very special two-part episode of the edge, where we are diving into Skillsoft's 20, 21 lean into learning report. Now, if you haven't already done so head on over to skillsoft.com/podcast, to listen to part one where I chat with Christy Hummel, Skillsoft's chief people officer. And in that episode, the two of us talk about the various trends in this year's report. And we really get an opportunity to hear Christie's perspectives on the finding. But as I said, this is a special two-parter. So today I have the honor of sitting down with Sherry Hicks, a leadership development strategist and learning manager at Trane technologies.

Michelle BB 00:01:09 And one of our very own customers whose learning story is profiled in this year's lean into learning report. And as organizations think about how they can create skills based learning and development programs for a hybrid workforce train story is the perfect example of how to do so triumphantly. So I couldn't be more excited to get this started and to speak with Sherry today. Learning more about her and the incredible programs that she's spearheading at train. Well, Sherry, thank you so much for joining us on the edge. I, I have to say first on behalf of Skillsoft, I want to thank you for being our customer and for the wonderful partnership that we built together. I think we are so fortunate to work with incredible companies like train technologies and to help support learning and development within your organization. And we couldn't be more grateful to have you featured in this year as lean into learning rapport. And I'm so excited to dive into this incredible leadership program that you've been running. So, so welcome.

Cherie 00:02:14 Thank you, Michelle. I appreciate the opportunity. I'm excited to talk about our collaboration or partnership.

Michelle BB 00:02:20 Oh, good. Good. Now we always want to start with a little bit of fun and give our listeners a little more insight into who you are, cause they already went through your professional background and look so, you know, I also put Christie Hummel, our chief people officer through this. So I promise it won't be painful. You ready?

Cherie 00:02:37 Sounds good. Okay.

Michelle BB 00:02:39 Ready in the spirit of, of the time that we're in a limpic winter or summer?

Cherie 00:02:46 I would say summer I'm prone to winter because the winter Olympics are going on, but I love the gymnastics and the track and field portion of the summer Olympics. So I would say suffer

Michelle BB 00:02:57 I'm with you. I track and field is my absolute favorite. Okay. Favorite movie genre and movie

Cherie 00:03:06 Favorite movies. Aren't well, one thing I'm a huge movie buff, so I feel like I like them all equally based on what movie it is. I mean, from scary hard drama comedy, I would say drama is my favorite. Um, cause I love a good story. Favorite one. That's a tough one. Um, I wanna say the color purple because that's the one that I remember from childhood that had just a huge impact that I, you know, still could watch right now almost as if it was the first time. So I would say drama is my favorite, even though I did just see the screen movie a couple of weeks ago and I loved it so

Michelle BB 00:03:59 Interesting. Interesting. All right. Here's a big one. Tik ToK or no Tik Tok?

Cherie 00:04:08 No Tik Tok for me. I appreciate some of the videos. I see them, um, you know, uh, seeing them on YouTube, the compilations, but I personally am not on Tik ToK nor have I made a Tik Tok video. So one of the few people, um, let's see how long it lasts, you know, everywhere, somebody wanting to take top videos. I know.

Michelle BB 00:04:37 All right. And then the last one, and then I'll stop subjecting you to lightning round questions. What, what is the one subject that you'd like to learn more about?

Cherie 00:04:49 I would say for me, I'm always looking for opportunities to improve my business, acumens skills, business knowledge. So, because I work on the people side, I'm always, I feel like it just gives so much credibility to the work that we do and the people on the people side, then I'm always trying to understand the business more because it's so different from, from my background. So like in manufacturing, for instance, I'm always trying to understand your products or services. Um, so yeah,

Michelle BB 00:05:30 I love that. I love that because it gives you so much more insight into the customers that you're serving and that your employees are engaging with. I really do like that.

Cherie 00:05:38 Exactly. Um, yeah, those are our customers. Yeah,

Michelle BB 00:05:42 Yeah. Yeah. So, so why don't we start by having you share a little bit about your role train's overarching philosophy on learning and development and, and the programs you're leading to create this culture of learning across the organization. Maybe you can touch on that a little.

Cherie 00:05:58 Sure. So I'm a little bit about my background. Um, my role has really been with train technologies for about seven years, always in the leadership, excellent space. My, the target audience for the work that I do has evolved over the years. So we're, you know, it's gone from working with frontline leaders to executive leaders. And now in the past few years, my work has primarily been focused on women's leadership development. So really expanding the development opportunities for women at Trane. And you asked about the philosophy of, of train as far as development. I would say, w we've been committed to diversity and inclusion, which the work that I do with women, just really a women is really a unique partnership that I have with the diversity and inclusion team. Um, and I would say we've, we've had that partnership for quite a few years. I've been focused in as the diversity inclusion space and these programs are a result of that commitment. Um, you know, we looked at back in really 2017, our company signed the paradigm for parody initiative and our, our senior leaders have actually, you know, join a couple of different coalitions. The one TN the CEO action for diversity and inclusion. And these programs are a result of some of those commitments where we're trying to make sure that we focus on opportunity for all, and that everyone at every level in the organization has access to development.

Michelle BB 00:07:54 I absolutely love that. It's one of the things that we espouse here at Skillsoft and, and, and I think this notion of making learning growth opportunities, skill building, skill mastery, accessible to all is so, so critically important. So I love hearing that about train. Um, I'd love to learn and I wanna, I wanna switch and talk a little bit more about the women in action leadership development program that, that you alluded to, that you've been spearheading and in this year is lean into learning report. Um, we emphasize the importance of raising awareness and taking action to address gender equality in the workplace. And I think this program is a perfect example of how organizations can empower and support their own female talent. Now you started this program if I understand correctly back in 2019, so Sheree, can you, can you tell me a little bit more about how and why it was started and maybe provide us with a sense of what the framework behind that program is?

Cherie 00:09:00 Sure. So at the time we had, um, a women's program in place that was really structured in a traditional way. It was, it was a global program, but it was primarily onsite in person and it was focused on leaders, women, leaders that we identified as key talent. And so, again, going back to some of the commitments that we've made around paradigm for parody, we were looking for an opportunity again, to reach more women. And then not just women that were already leaders. We wanted to reach women at every level, emerging leaders, informal leaders, and this program provided an opportunity to do that as well as being assessable to women that were outside of the U S cause because we are a global program. And so we wanted something that women could really incorporate into their day, so they didn't have to commit to, okay, I have to be in a classroom or I have to be in a session for four to eight hours.

Cherie 00:10:18 It was really about, you know, taking this really traditional non-traditional approach to learning like, like learn on the, go, like the learning is integrated into your day. So, and that looks differently for all of us. So, you know, whether you're in HR, whether you're in engineering, you know, regardless of the business that you're in, you can make a decision of. Oh, okay. So, you know, Tuesdays at four o'clock work for me, I don't have to be in a session with other people I can log in and I can learn at a time that works, um, with my schedule.

Michelle BB 00:11:02 I, that sounds, that sounds incredible. And you know, I think a lot, a lot of organizations, a lot of organizations are trying to better align programs with the real needs of an increasingly hybrid workforce. Because as you talked about the original models where we were in person spending, you know, hours or days on end, that doesn't work. And it sounds like, um, you've made that pivot to meet the changing needs of your learners. Um, successfully, can you, can you talk a little more about how this program has transformed as you saw the move from in-person to digital and like, you know, what had to be done differently and what were some of the challenges that you faced and what have you realized about, you know, how digital can be integrated successfully, um, or use successfully for a program like this?

Cherie 00:12:01 Yeah, so I would say, um, there is quite a few things that we learned. So really going back to your question around the culture, I think it was a huge paradigm shift. Um, because most of us, of course, this was pre pandemic we're used to in-person learning. So w when we piloted the program in 2019, even though, you know, made it very clear, this was virtual, it was self pace. A lot of people still came into the program, not expecting that to be completely mobile. And so just trying to, you know, encourage that paradigm shift of, you know, no one's tracking like we, they, they're given a deadline to complete the work. Um, it's about eight weeks, but just understanding that I'm not monitoring you throughout this whole eight weeks, you were really empowered to, Hey, if you have a Friday and you want to spend, you know, four hours, uh, plowing through some of the courses or, you know, listening to an audio book, that's up to you.

Cherie 00:13:16 Um, and so I would say that was one of the big things, like continuing to get them to understand that you really own this process, like how successful you are. You're not going to have a facilitator holding your hand through it, but I would say as the program evolved, we're, we're constantly because we want to keep the content fresh and relevant. And so even though the topics that we focus on haven't changed since that time we've tweaked the, you know, the number of hours or some of the, the books. Um, we received platforms where people really wanted to do more micro learning versus read or listen to a six hour audio book. They wanted more variety. And so, so those are some of the changes that we've made over the past couple of years, um, based on participant feedback, but it, you know, it's been pretty amazing that, you know, since our launch, um, a lot of our learners still find a lot of value in the topics that we've selected, um, and still find them beneficial to, um, helpful for what they need.

Michelle BB 00:14:40 I, I really, I really love this. And, you know, I mean, look, it's something that we talk about across the board with respect to learning that you have to own your own development. And that's a hard thing, right? Because oftentimes learning is a push organizations, push things at people. And really, if you want to develop a culture of leadership and learning one in which learning becomes a daily habit, people need to pull that learning and they need to feel a sense of ownership over in. It sounds like you've been able to do that successfully here.

Cherie 00:15:15 Yes, definitely. Um, and I've seen the change. We actually just started the program again this year and I just feel the energy just elevated year after year, because I think our learners really get it. They come, you know, excited. Um, they're, they're willing to share their experiences because we try to encourage, like, even though you're not, you know, in a classroom, you know, reach out to your other cohort members, you know, share some ahas that you have. Um, you know, we have debriefs that we provide a platform for them to come together a couple of times throughout the eight weeks, but we're trying to get them to really engage in a development opportunity and a non-traditional way. And I think it has really caught on, um, you know, now that we've met through the pandemic, especially that our learners are more open to sharing and aren't really shy about, you know, having these conversations virtually versus in person. Um, yeah. So it's, it, it's, it's been an incredible experience just to see just the shift in our cultural culture where our learners and participants, or really maximizing this experience, um, more so than they did at the beginning,

Michelle BB 00:16:48 You know, and, and you said something that I just want to touch on because we've had this discussion internally quite a bit, but this idea of cohort learning, even when you're in a self-paced environment, that the, the, the reality or the, the, the fact that you were going through this with others and that others are experiencing, and the same, um, learning and growth, maybe having some of the same aha moments, maybe there are, are elements that, you know, they want to discuss, but they recognize that they're not alone. There's something really powerful. I think about cohort learning

Cherie 00:17:26 Very much so because of what we try to encourage is for them to learn from each other. Like that can be a real, that's one of the benefits of still, even though it's a self-paced program, going through it as a cohort thing has, again, you may not have completed the same course at the same time, but the topic is still the same. And so you still can have those conversations and make those connections with others about the experience you're having in the program.

Michelle BB 00:18:00 That's, that's, that's wonderful. I, you know, I, I think that the program sounds amazing, but I think it would be wonderful if we could talk a little bit about the outcomes. Cause I know you've had some exceptional ones and, and profound when it comes to your organization. Um, so, so tell us what, what's the impact that you've seen on learning and growth on, on your, you know, empowering your female leaders and specifically just on, on talent development and retention in and of itself?

Cherie 00:18:33 Um, yeah, so we started the program in 2019. We started with about 125 women. Um, and because we divide the cohort into three sub cohorts, so we have emerging mid and senior from 2019, we have in continue to expand the number of women that actually participate in each cohort, but also we have increased the number that we actually offer. So for instance, in 2021, we had three cohorts, um, that ran over the course of the year and each cohort, um, was about 300 women participating. And so, and that is just based on, again, the interest and the demand for the, like I said, it has really, since 2019 really become extremely popular because again, I think culturally, now we get it. Um, it's, you know, this program is maybe something easier than what you were used to because this is self paced. So over the course of the past couple of years, we've developed about 1100 women.

Cherie 00:19:52 So keeping in mind in 2019, we only had one program where we developed about 30 women per year. So just the number of women that we're reaching at every level has been extremely rewarding, extremely satisfying. Um, w I've also seen with this program because we have the three different levels. I've seen women go from the emerging group to the mid-level group. So you get to see the progression in their, their careers and then, you know, to share their experiences with other ones, other women. And, you know, even in some of the programs we have outside the other women's programs, you know, talk about the impact that this program is having and what what's really ironic, um, about our conversation today is about 30 minutes before I had a colleague to reach out to me and was just like, yeah, you're, you're still running the women in action program.

Cherie 00:20:58 Right. And I was like, yeah. And it was, it was a leader. She was like, I had the most amazing feedback from four of my direct reports about the program, because like I said, we just launched it this year. And I was like, oh, that's great. And she said, no, seriously, like life-changing. And I was like, are you serious? And I was like, this is like, I'm having, you know, preparing to have this call and the intake give that kind of amazing feedback. Um, I haven't heard what it was specifically yet, but, um, when I think back to 2019, um, and I know some learners were kind of frustrated like, oh, you just expect me to just read a book by myself and, um, you know, take this class, like, what's the big deal, but it is those connections. Like it is really having an impact. And so that's just been extremely rewarding to see.

Michelle BB 00:22:01 I, I cannot, honestly, I don't think I can imagine right now, a more fulfilling role. It sounds so amazing and excited. And you gave me goosebumps when you said that because, you know, I, I personally, this is a, this is a passion for me as well. Um, even within our own organization, I chair female leaders of Skillsoft. We call it floss and we are working very hard to put in place programs that are going to not only engage the women in our organization, but help them progress. And so, as I'm listening to you, I'm learning a lot and I'm probably going to say, Hey, Sheree, why don't you come speak to floss?

Cherie 00:22:46 Um, I'm happy to, I'm happy because I am so passionate about this work and just, it's, it's very rewarding to, like, I tell people, I get to see how the story ends. It's been amazing that I remember last year I was in another program, another one of my programs and I was observing it. And one of the participants shared the experience she had in this program. And she said, I just was inspired to show up as my authentic self. I realize that I have been holding back. And she said, now I, I have the confidence. And I, I know that that's, that was actually impacting my performance. And this is because one of the topics is emotional intelligence. And she was just like, I just, from that self-awareness I realized that I was doing a disservice, not just to myself, but to others around me, because I didn't feel comfortable, really being a vocal. And she said, but in my personal life, I was, but in my professional life, I held back. And so that's just some of the impact that, um, you don't even realize when you are creating a program like this, that it can have longterm.

Michelle BB 00:24:08 I think that's, I think that's fantastic, but you know, it didn't that begets the question, Sheree, what's next? How are you going to continue to refine this program? And, and, you know, I know that there's more that you're doing with trains other, um, learning programs, but, but what's next for you and for this, you know, amazing program you've developed.

Cherie 00:24:29 Yeah. So I'm a person where you're like, I'm never satisfied. What's next question is not a hard question for me, because I'm always like, if anything, I have to be coached to like, celebrate Sheree, enjoy the success, because I'm always looking at it from a perspective, like how can we make it better? How can we improve the quality of the program? How can we make it more learner friendly? And one of the ways that, uh, you know, I'm continuing to do that is, you know, evaluating the program annually. Um, so, you know, looking at the feedback from the learners, they evaluations, which I always encourage throughout, like, give me your honest feedback, what's working, what's not working. What would you recommend? And I think by approaching it in that way, you'll always find opportunities to make some small changes that can really have a big impact on the learner experience.

Cherie 00:25:37 And so that's, that's, um, that's some of the stuff that I'm looking at, you know, doing this, like I said, we just launched for this year, but at the end of the year, I'll look at what were some of the successes and what were some of the opportunities and, you know, and I'll adjust the quarterly. I tell participants in my program, I think I'm addicted to the comments section, like gives me specific feedback. Let me know. Um, because we've, we've made changes based on that. And so that's, what's been really great to see, like I said, well, I've had like someone to come back to the program and they're like, oh, well, this is a little different. I see that the format looks different. And just even how they access the content is a little different, you know, we shifted platforms, you know, go on a different platform. And so there are always some, you know, changes, um, that I think can be made to make the program better year after year.

Michelle BB 00:26:36 I, yeah, I love that. And I'm going to ask now, cause, cause I think, I, I think I have you in a really good frame of mind. Can I have you back so that we can get an update in a year?

Cherie 00:26:46 I am happy to come back. I'm happy to come back. Like I said, I could talk about this work all day because with women, what I absolutely love is like, we share what we think, how we're feeling. It's never really a mystery of, you know, I mean, you just feel the energy, um, literally even virtually. And so, um, I just love seeing people open up and be vulnerable and, you know, ask the tough questions. And so, yeah, I'm, I'm happy to come back cause I, I always have a story because you know, I'm living it. Like I said, what just happened earlier today? I couldn't believe it. I was, was just like really that's some powerful feedback. So I'm looking forward to hearing specifically, you know, and she said it was four people, so yeah. Yeah. Cause I want to know what's working like I'm like, can I bottle back whatever was said and done and then, you know, duplicate that, you know, distributed.

Michelle BB 00:27:54 Absolutely. Yeah. I know. Um, oh Sherry, this has been so much fun. I, and you know, we could go on, but obviously podcasts have to come to an end and I'm so sorry that, um, we didn't get a chance to, to, to do more, but again, we'll have you back. Um, and I want to thank you so much for sharing train story. This has been great, but you know, I have the one final question. Cause we talked about this before we even started podcasting. And it is the one final question that I've asked all of my guests since we started the edge and it's a three-part or so you may need to write this one down. Okay. As we, as we reflect on the past year, I think we've all had a very different experience when it comes to the impact of 20, 21, the impact of the pandemic and the ways in which our lives have changed and things that have shifted and things that we will not go back to. So in this three or what I'd love to learn about you is what you've learned about yourself. So first, what have you learned about yourself in 2021? Second thing is how are you going to apply what you've learned? And then the third is what advice would you share with others? So learned applied advice.

Cherie 00:29:12 Okay, great. I'd love that you have an application piece that speaks to my educator background. I would say what I have learned about myself is that I'm more optimistic than I thought I was. I always actually prided myself on being pragmatic, being a realist. And I think throughout this, you know, world we've been living in the past of years when I, you know, look at things that I've done, like I've always tried to turn it around into something positive. Um, and I didn't, I wasn't really aware of that about myself. Like I said, I, I tried to always just, you know, I'm about the facts of about, you know, speaking the truth, but I'm like, I'm a little more optimistic. I like that. And, and so, because I have become more aware of that, I tried to make sure that I'm intentional about showing up in that way.

Cherie 00:30:17 Cause I feel like it's contagious. I think even virtually that people can feel energy and I hope I can pass that on. And then others pass that on like just some of the passion and enthusiasm I have around pretty much anything that I do. Cause that's the type of person I am. Um, and I, I just try to make sure that I'm showing up in that way consistently and pass that on. And so I would say, um, the last one about advice for others, I would say my advice would be, um, sometimes I've always said like be comfortable being uncomfortable. Like, like they say, like the, you know, life begins at the end of your comfort zone. I think if all of us reflect on the opportunities where we've grown the most and develop the most, it was when we were in a space where we were uncomfortable. So just embracing that, um, because again, these past couple of years have shown us. We are not in control. We have to get comfortable in that space and still continue to make the most out of life. Um, in every aspect of our lives.

Michelle BB 00:31:43 This has been absolutely amazing. I look forward to having you as a guest on the edge again soon, and I wish you and your women in action programs so much success. I am, I am already excited about what I am, what I've learned today and what I'm going to take back to my organization. So thank you so much.

Cherie 00:32:04 Thank you, Michelle. I've enjoyed it. Thank you,

Michelle BB 00:32:08 Cherie, thank you. Once again for joining us, I also want to give a big shout out to Christie Hummel for joining us in part one and two, our listeners, thank you for tuning into this. And every episode as we unleash our edge together and close out season two. Now I said this before, but if you haven't bet our full 2021 lean into learning report, or if you're hungry for more insights after listening to today's episodes, how could you not be head over to skillsoft.com where you can download the full report and on behalf of the entire Skillsoft team, I encourage you to keep learning, keep growing and in light of our conversation today, I'll leave you with an encouraging message from Skillsoft CEO and the welcome message that opens the lean into learning report. Jeff writes, despite what we've heard about the great resignation, there's another movement growing in response, which promises to be the skilling revolution organizations that thrive are creating a culture of learning, where every employee can develop new skills and competencies and is given the tools to succeed in the next normal competency is the new currency. You know, I love that idea. And here at Skillsoft, we'll continue to partner with organizations that are ready and willing to transform through learning. I'm Michelle BB. This is the edge and we'll be back soon to bring you even more episodes as we return with season three coming soon. But until then be well.