The Digital Adoption Show today features Lou Tedrick, the Vice President of Learning & Development at Verizon. Lou will answer a few unsaid questions including How to Create an Outstanding Learning Strategy to Prepare Organizations for the Future of Work.

Lou is a Human Resources professional with extensive knowledge of organizational development, learning, and development, and employee relations. At Verizon, Lou is responsible for enterprise-wide learning and development opportunities including leadership development, product training, CS and sales skills training (consumer and business channels), HR/compliance training, IT technical training, tuition assistance, and L&D operations monitoring and analytics. Lou manages a virtual team of over 900 learning professionals across the globe.

10:17 -What are some of the common digital transformation or learning initiatives that companies should focus on to upskill their employees?

• Have a strategic workforce planning process and very specific roles as part of a broader job taxonomy. It helps build a clear picture of the critical skills needed for the future
• The technology that's going to be required for the future, not only for our employees but for our business, we need to have highly technical folks. We should always look for ways to keep our technical staff on the cutting edge and at the forefront of technology skills
• We're starting to see people asking us for more work in the areas of leadership, empathy, and generally on how to treat people in an engaging way. So that they feel excited and energised about coming to work. Now, the focus for us is on how to ensure that this paradigm shift continues in a consistent manner

16:32 -What are consumer-grade technologies, and then how can enterprises and companies leverage them for creating a better learning experience for employees?

• Consumer-grade technologies are those we use in our lives outside of work, and we expect them to operate the same way inside our work 
• These platforms are being designed in such a way that we can create really engaging learning experiences, that could be as near to face-to-face as possible
• It's so hard for our employees to keep everything in their minds. What they really need is that simple, digital information at their fingertips while they are supporting a customer while doing their work in the flow of work. Organizations should understand that, it's high time to start engaging employees in the flow of work

24:44 -Why do you think there is such a discrepancy in employee behaviour? And how can companies overcome it?

• Successful companies are those, that truly look for the voice of their employees, appreciate their voice, know about where their employees can pivot, and where you can balance employee needs and business needs together for the same goal
• You have to create those types of experiences that are frictionless for employees which are really appealing to them, and also allow them to develop and grow with a business that offers flexibility

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