The Learning & Development Podcast: The #1 L&D Show

Like so many professions, Learning & Development is evolving and transforming fast. Starting out in the profession had a standard path just a short while ago but expectations and technological advances have been catalysts for great change. In this episode, presented by 360Learning, John and David explore what it takes now to start out - and grow a career - in L&D.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• In the past, L&D professionals were created mainly in the classroom.
• Technology has changed the way people learn, so, how people enter the L&D sector and the type of person that works in the industry has changed too.
• Become a good content curator. It will enable you to, very quickly, create truly effective and tailored learning resources.
• Learn to repurpose content. It is a great way to create easily digestible learning resources, e.g., taking a 20-minute video and dividing it into 10 1 to 3-minute blocks.
• Data analysis is essential. Without it, you can't see what works and prove L&D's value to the business.
• New technology creates new opportunities to engage with people and help them to build new skills. Stay up to date.
• Look at what others are doing, be open-minded and ready to emulate them.
• L&D has a strong role to play in helping people to see where they can take their careers next.

BEST MOMENTS

'Bizarrely I think that everything and hardly anything has changed.'

'Understand what people need, what the organization needs, rather than what it wants.'

'Get a mentor.'

John Hinchcliffe Bio

John Hinchcliffe is a Digital Learning Experience Manager at Emirates National Bank of Dubai and an internationally recognized award-winning digital learning expert.

You can follow and contact John via:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-hinchliffe-yourskillshub/

X / Twitter: https://twitter.com/yourskillshub

Skills Report: https://360learning.com/guide/2023-global-state-upskilling-and-reskilling-report/introduction/

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523

L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

ABOUT THE HOST

David James 

David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. 

As well as being the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D. 

CONTACT METHOD 

• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/

Want to know how to level up your employee experience using design thinking? Want a no-nonsense approach to designing people-centred products, services, and experience? Well, Danny Seals has written the book on these and tells us all about it in this episode.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Levelling up your employee experience has never been more important.
• Examine the problem properly, don´t simply go with what you think the issue is. Use the ladder technique that Danny shares in this episode.
• People need to stop simply looking at how things are and focus on what could be e.g., instead of delivering an off-the-shelf leadership programme, challenge the fundamental DNA of leadership.
• You need to be creative, and genuinely open-minded to look at what could be.
• Make the implicit explicit. Be open and have those difficult conversations early.
• The businesses that retain their workers, design for the human. Their systems and processes equip their people to succeed.
• Create experiments that can be conducted within the flow of work to evaluate things and hone your design.

BEST MOMENTS

'Make work better by good design.'

'Work in transparency.'

'If you don´t add that human at the centre of everything you do, who are you really designing for.'

Danny Seals Bio

Danny is Head of Employee Innovation at Legal & General, founder of Get Knotted and author of the book The Insightful Innovator. Danny has led and developed various teams using these innovative approaches to design employee experience products that exceed BAU.

Danny also hosts his own successful podcast, Mindchimp, where he talks to friends in his network and challenges the industry on the future of work. 

You can follow and contact Danny via:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannyseals/?originalSubdomain=uk

Get Knotted: https://www.weareknot.co.uk/

The Insightful Innovator book: https://www.amazon.com/Insightful-Innovator-Experience-No-Nonsense-People-Centered/dp/1739346505

Mindchimp Podcast: https://mindchimp.podbean.com/

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523

L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

ABOUT THE HOST

David James 

David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. 

As well as being the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D. 

CONTACT METHOD 

• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/

Do we need to concede that we’ll never be able to accurately measure the impact of our soft skills development solutions? If so, that’s an enormous amount of spending without knowing if we’re making enough of a difference. In this episode, we discuss how it is possible to plan, design and deliver for real impact and how this is already working.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Tell people upfront how what they learn applies to their job. 
• Use proprietary internal knowhow to plug content gaps. 
• Have people practice what they learn.
• Improve 1st line management training.
• Understand outputs and how they are measured.
• If processes are not being followed by top performers, the processes are wrong.
• L&D needs to develop too, to set an example.

BEST MOMENTS
'We do too much one size fits all.'

'They can learn from each other’s best practice.'

VALUABLE RESOURCES
The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523
L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home 

Guy Wallace Bio
Guy W. Wallace is a retired Performance Analyst and Instructional Architect and had been designing and developing performance-based Instruction - Performance Guides & Learning Experiences - for Enterprise Learning functions and their business-critical target audiences since 1979. 

Guy started as a Training Developer at Wickes Lumber in 1979 and then became a Training Project Supervisor at Motorola in 1981. Since 1982, he specialized in Curriculum Architecture Design via a Facilitated Group Process. In 1984, he co-authored two articles on these approaches: a Training Magazine article on Curriculum Architecture Design via a Group Process - and another on Creating Models and Matrices using a Group Process - for NSPI's Performance & Instruction Journal. Guy completed his 76th performance-based Curriculum Architecture Design consulting project - since 1982 - in 2019. 

Guy, an ISD consultant since 1982 and a partner/owner at three consulting firms, personally served over 80 clients, primarily in Fortune 500 firms in the USA and firms in Canada, Germany, and The Netherlands.  

See his websites for lists of clients, descriptions of 250+ projects, publications, presentations, and over 600 free ISD and Performance Improvement PDFs, plus links to free audio & video resources:

Guy Wallace LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guywwallace 
HPT Treasures https://hpttreasures.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/Harless-PIJ-1983-Interview.pdf
https://hpttreasures.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/Harless-1985-Performance_Improvement.pdf
Carl Binder: https://www.sixboxes.com/The-Team.html
Dawn Snyder: https://www.dawnsnyderassoc.com
Steve Villachica: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-villachica-96a0a69 

ABOUT THE HOST
David James 
David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. 

As well as being the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D. 

CONTACT METHOD 

• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning 
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin 
• L&D Collective: https://360learning.com/the-l-and-d-collective 
• Blog: https://360learning.com/blog 
• L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home 

What’s it like to lead L&D at one of the world’s most renowned and successful companies? Netflix has grown into an international powerhouse of home entertainment and is almost as famous for its people practices as its product. In this episode we lift the lid on L&D at Netflix and explore what development looks like at this aspirational and ambitious brand.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The culture informs everything Netflix does.
• Netflix takes a different approach to performance management.
• At Netflix the culture is innovation, L&D emanates from that culture.
• Ongoing feedback is a key component of Netflix culture.
• Onboarding is extensive and immerses people in all areas of the business.
• Because they have a global workforce there are some cultural differences, but the important principles are the same across the entire company.
• It is cheaper to develop and promote from within, which Netflix does a lot.
• Don’t be afraid to push the boundaries.

BEST MOMENTS
'We talk a lot in Netflix around good processes.'

'You cannot make a distinction between the technical skills or industry knowledge and culture.'

'We do a good job of codifying the culture.'

VALUABLE RESOURCES
The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523

L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

ABOUT THE GUEST
Kenny Temowo Bio
Kenny Temowo leads Talent Management and Leadership development for Netflix UK. He’s spent almost two decades in learning and education, working as a consultant with clients such as the BBC, Vodafone, Rolls-Royce, as well as leading in-house L&D teams.

ABOUT THE HOST
David James 
David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. 

As well as being the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D. 

CONTACT METHOD 

• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/

Skills-based approaches to organisations, the workforce and development are gaining in prominence. This is hardly a surprise when one of the biggest problems across entire industries and economies is the growing skills gap. So a skills-based approach is aimed at meeting these problems head-on. In this episode, we explore what this all means for L&D and our stakeholders and how we get involved.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A skills-based organization organises a lot of their work and talent structures around skills, rather than roles only.
• The idea is that focusing on skills rather than roles results in a more agile organisation.
• The most talented people want the chance to develop new skills and progress.
• Training your workforce to get the right skills mix is far less disruptive than constantly getting rid of and recruiting people.
• Generative AI has potential to help us to map out the skills we need and identify problems. But, remember garbage in garbage out, give it the right base data.
• To be effective, workplace learning has to engage both sides of the brain.
• You have to provide concrete examples of where that skill is applied. Skill development has to be contextual to be effective.

BEST MOMENTS
'It’s a fundamental challenge to our beliefs.'

'Talent seeks career progress. People go places where they can go places.'

'I like to say separating roles from souls.'

'Always talk about the activity and the skill.'

VALUABLE RESOURCES
The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523

L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

Gabe Gloege Bio
Gabe is a leading voice in modern L&D and is co-founder of CultivateMe, a people development agency. He is also formerly the Senior Director of Learning & Organizational Development at ETC and an advocate of progressive, performance-oriented approaches to L&D.

You can follow and contact Gabe via:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabegloege/
Gabe's Maven Course "Becoming a Skills-based Organization”: https://maven.com/cultivate-me/skills-based-org
Take A Selfie Of Your Skills: https://cultivateme.xyz/selfie/
Red Thread Research Podcast: https://redthreadresearch.com/rtr-podcast/

ABOUT THE HOST
David James 
David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. 

As well as being the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D. 

CONTACT METHOD 

• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/

Without doubt, 2023 has been dominated by AI. Whether it’s through fear, anxiety, excitement or over-exposure, generative AI - and most prominently ChatGPT - has been at the forefront of thinking, development and investment as the world rushes to catch up with this emergent technology. But what could it mean for L&D? According to Ross Stevenson, quite a lot. Listen as Ross shares his exhaustive exploration of this technology and tells us how we can be benefitting today.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• ChatGPT is a game-changer for (L&D), turbo charging their efficiency.
• Those who adapt to generative AI first will reap the rewards.
• ChatGPT empowers you to work at an unprecedented speed.
• Don't dismiss ChatGPT as a mere content generator; it's much more.
• ChatGPT is your ultimate research assistant, simplifying the daunting task of summarizing extensive reports.
• It offers a fresh, emotion-free perspective, swiftly uncovering valuable insights from data you input, long reports and the web.
• An AI task assessment framework helps identify optimal use cases.
• Companies are creating custom generative AI systems tailored to their data.
• ChatGPT is a potent educational tool, nurturing skills development.
• L&D is on the path to teaching individuals how to leverage AI for self-directed learning.
• With an in-house AI system, L&D can pinpoint and solve real business problems, sidelining ineffective generic tools.
• Microsoft Co-Pilot will further enhance data analysis, presentations, and spreadsheet tasks.

BEST MOMENTS

'Just using if for thought partnership has been very powerful.'

'It is an extension of you… it will make you smarter.'

'Do the case/task assessment first, and then figure out if generative AI could help.'

'Just be curious.'

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523

L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

Ross Stevenson Bio

Ross is Chief Learning Strategist and founder of Steal These Thoughts, an independent L&D think tank. He’s spent 16 years leading L&D teams, strategies, and tools within global organisations. Ross is also at the forefront of exploring the potential of generative AI in L&D.

You can follow and connect with Ross via:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rstevensonuk/

Twitter: @_Rsvenson

Website: www.stealthesethoughts.com

What L&D Teams Can’t Afford To Get Wrong article: https://stealthesethoughts.com/2023/09/08/why-ld-teams-cant-afford-to-get-it-wrong-with-generative-ai/

ABOUT THE HOST

David James 

David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. 

As well as being the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D. 

CONTACT METHOD 

• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/

The latest CIPD report on the Learning & Development profession is both revealing and inspiring. L&D practitioners and leaders have had a huge amount to deal with, in recent years, with many using circumstances to make radical changes. For others, not so much. So, what does this all mean and what do we need to do about it? In this conversation, we unpack the report and highlight some key findings - as well as provide commentary and insight ourselves.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The CIPD report seeks to uncover what´s changing, what´s new, and what is important for the L&D community.
• Despite challenges, the industry is optimistic.
• There is now more emphasis on digital.
• It will soon no longer be possible to recruit yourself out of the skills gap, a fact that is driving businesses to invest in training their personnel.
• When it comes to organizational priorities and alignment there has been some slippage.
• Learner time constraints and a lack of engagement are still issues.
• Line managers are still not playing a key role in learning.
• Ongoing learning, reflection, and adaptation are all essential.
• 57% of L&D professionals seek to understand performance issues before recommending a solution.
• Zoom out on the data to get the bigger picture.
• Use the report to look at things through a different lens and learn from it on a personal level.

BEST MOMENTS

'Leaders recognize the value we have on organization priorities.'

'The hardest way to do L&D is to tell somebody a different way to do the job without understanding the job.'

'By increasing your value, you increase your currency.'

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523

L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

Laura Overton Bio

Laura Overton is an experienced international speaker, author, facilitator, and award-winning learning analyst dedicated to uncovering and sharing effective practices in learning innovation that lead to business value. Her work is based on 30 years of practical experience and a commitment to supporting evidence-based learning decisions and has shared her ideas as the author of over 40 reports and hundreds of articles over that time. As the founder of Towards Maturity, she is also known for leading the first 15 years of a longitudinal study program (2004 – February 2019) respected for uncovering and sharing learning strategies that lead to business success.

You can follow and connect with Laura via:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraoverton/

Twitter: @lauraoverton

CIPD Learning at Work 2023 Report: https://www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/reports/learning-at-work/

ABOUT THE HOST

David James 

David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. 

As well as being the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D. 

CONTACT METHOD 

• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/

Since Shannon first appeared on the podcast in 2021, podcasting has grown exponentially into a mainstream channel for organisations and individuals. However, despite this growth, it is still a marginal tool in corporate learning and not fully embraced for its potential to make culture accessible and make exclusive conversations open for employees to hear. In this episode we address some of the challenges organisations face - and overcome - to make podcasting work for them.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

•  There are about 5 million podcasts out there. 
•  Over 460 million people regularly listen to one.
• Studies show that people absorb what they hear through audio.
• There is enormous potential for L&D teams to use podcasts in-house to help people learn from others and understand the diverse opportunities on offer in their organisation.
• Mapping out episodes in advance helps to keep things flowing in the right direction. Record at least 6 before you launch.
• The technical side of recording podcasts is not complicated, and it is not expensive.
• Sharing more about what is going on behind important decisions via internal podcasts improves transparency.
• Podcasts are evergreen but can also be recorded and sent out within an hour to address urgent issues.
• You need to know your audience and promote your podcast.

BEST MOMENTS
'Podcasts have the unique ability to allow the listener to multitask. '
'At its very essence, it is learning from colleagues.'
'Understand your internal audience. '

Shannon Martin Bio
Shannon is a podcast and communications specialist working with podcasters and organisations to share their message and make the best possible impact. Shannon has worked with creators of all types and sizes in creating and growing their podcasts. This experience has led to helping companies/brands develop the best possible podcasts for their goals, both for external and internal audiences. Having worked on the platform side at Podbean Shannon is now in production, strategy, and growth with Lower Street.
You can follow and connect with Shannon via:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonmartinwrites/

VALUABLE RESOURCES
The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523
L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

ABOUT THE HOST
David James 
David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. 
As well as being the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D.

CONTACT METHOD 
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/ 
L&D Collective: https://360learning.com/the-l-and-d-collective/
Blog: https://360learning.com/blog/
L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

As organisations face disruption from digital advancements, a parallel skills shortage is being experienced in the labour market. In the face of these two challenges, Learning & Development teams are seeking ways to make a predictable and reliable impact on developing their people. In this episode, we explore what Aviva is doing to upskill and re-skill in digital skills to ensure the company thrives in the future.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

•  All 22,000 colleagues at Aviva have access to learning, so they can perform at their best and develop their careers.
• Take a collaborative approach, consult the experts in your business and understand what your learners want to achieve.
• Start small to learn what works for your organisation. Initially, focus on a few roles.
• Take a multi-prong approach, provide the learning in a range of formats. Once you have identified what works best you can potentially dispense with some programmes.
• Some people are resistant to being educated about digital tools. One-hour immersion sessions are a good way to ignite interest and overcome this reticence.
• Make sure that those who engage in the learning process can actually progress in their careers.

BEST MOMENTS
'Learning for the future is where we're really focused right now. '
'Our digital boot camps are split into two different sectors – software engineering and product.'
'Start with a handful of roles, '

ABOUT THE GUEST
Sarah Allen Bio
Sarah is Head of Learning at Aviva and previously Head of Learning, Talent & Leadership for AXA UK, having risen through the ranks of the L&D team at AXA Investment Managers.
You can follow and connect with Sarah via:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahnelsonallen/

Molly Howes Bio
Molly is Foundry Project Lead at Aviva having joined the company in 2015 and transitioned into roles including Team Leader and Digital Product Owner. The Aviva Foundry is a learning community, developing the knowledge and skills Aviva needs to succeed in an increasingly digitised world.
You can follow and connect with Molly via:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/molly-howes-3a76a71b2/details/experience/

EPISODE RESOURCES
UK Skill Gap Report - https://industrialstrategycouncil.org/sites/default/files/attachments/Rising%20to%20the%20UK%27s%20skills%20challenges.pdf
https://decoded.com/

VALUABLE RESOURCES
The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523
L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

ABOUT THE HOST
David James 
David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.
As well as being the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D. 

CONTACT METHOD 
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/ 
L&D Collective: https://360learning.com/the-l-and-d-collective/
Blog: https://360learning.com/blog/
L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

Business impact is an elusive goal for Learning & Development, but it needn’t be. In this episode, as part of a series on achieving measurable impact, Bonnie Beresford unpacks what we should mean by business impact and how we make it attainable as well as planned and measurable.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Learning must be aligned with business goals.
• Effectively measuring learning effectiveness based on business impact drives change and increases profitability.
• Without measurement you cannot improve the learning.
• 100% attendance means nothing when it comes to achieving business goals.
• Ask the client what a good result would look like for them, then work with them to come up with the measurement. This conversation will also highlight what must be included in the training.
• To measure, use the cause precedes the effect model.
• You will always have some people that have been trained and some that have not, so you compare their performances
• Start by addressing the critical failures of the organisation or company.

BEST MOMENTS
' Measurement drives alignment. '
'What gets measured, gets done.'
'You don´t need a statistician to get started. '

VALUABLE RESOURCES
The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523
L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

Bonnie Beresford Bio
Bonnie is a human capital strategist and performance consultant, researching, designing, analysing and evaluating human performance improvement initiatives that are aligned with real business needs that are focused on improving measurable business outcomes. Bonnie is also the creator of the Measurement Map(R) to illustrate the causal chain of evidence between human capital interventions and measurable business outcomes.

You can follow and connect with Bonnie via:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bberesfordphd/
Website: https://www.gpstrategies.com

ABOUT THE HOST

David James 
David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.
As well as being the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D. 

CONTACT METHOD 
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/
L&D Collective: https://360learning.com/the-l-and-d-collective/
Blog: https://360learning.com/blog/
L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/