In this episode of the Brandon Hall Group™ Excellence at Work podcast, host Rachel Cooke, COO of Brandon Hall Group, sits down with Angela Ostermann, Senior Manager of Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness at Paylocity, to unpack what it really takes to build a high-performing leadership pipeline before people ever step into the role. Drawing on Paylocity's award-winning Leading Advantage program, which earned a Gold in Leadership and a Silver in Learning and Development from Brandon Hall Group, Angela brings a practitioner's lens to one of the most pressing challenges in organizational development today: turning high-potential individual contributors into confident, capable, and strategically aligned leaders.

Angela shares the philosophy behind Leading Advantage, a program purpose-built not for theory, but for real-world application. Designed specifically for Paylocity's operations group, the company's largest and most business-critical division, the program brings together high-performing ICs and prepares them for leadership through structured learning, on-the-job activities, professional coaching, and peer mentorship. The conversation also explores how deep business immersion, cross-functional collaboration, and ongoing iteration have made this program a genuine growth lever and not just a training initiative.

In this Brandon Hall Group™ Excellence at Work Podcast, Rachel Cooke, Chief Operating Officer at Brandon Hall Group, and Scott Kinney, CEO of NovoEd, explore how organizations can navigate volatility, build workforce capability at speed, and make smart, sustainable decisions about AI in learning and development.

In this Brandon Hall Group™ Excellence at Work Podcast, Meredith Riley, Chief Sales Officer for New Business at iSolved, explores how iSolved's Center of Influence (COI) program is transforming the way trusted business advisors deliver value to their clients. From benefit brokers to business bankers and accountants, Meredith breaks down why strategic HCM partnerships are no longer optional in today's rapidly evolving business landscape.

In this Brandon Hall Group™ Excellence at Work Podcast, Spencer Johnson, Treasury Management Officer at Zions Bank, and Suzanne Santana, Regional Vice President of Sales for the West at iSolved, explore how iSolved's Center of Influence (COI) program is redefining the way trusted business advisors like bankers and brokers deliver strategic value to their small and mid-sized business clients.

In this thought-provoking episode, David Wentworth, Managing Director of Learning and Talent at Brandon Hall Group, sits down with Derek Bruce, Chief Learning Officer at Easy Generator, to challenge the prevailing rush to use AI for content creation in L&D. Rather than asking what AI can do, they push organizations to first ask what they're actually trying to achieve — arguing that without a clear purpose and human expertise at the center, AI-generated learning content risks being generic, decontextualized, and ultimately ineffective.

Unlock the secrets to creating leadership development programs that leave a lasting impact. Discover how top organizations design tailored, practical, and measurable initiatives that develop tomorrow's leaders—and turn investment into real business results.