The Business of Learning

2020 has been a year marked by change, with the coronavirus pandemic disrupting both our personal and professional lives. To keep pace, organizations have had to shift many business operations on the fly, and learning leaders have proved paramount in helping them do so. To learn more about learning and development (L&D)’s role in change management, we spoke with Loren Sanders, enterprise manager of L&D at CVS Health, and Scott Nutter, who retired last month after working with Delta Airlines for 22 years managing its pilot training programs, and who now owns Touch ‘n Go Solutions. Listen now to learn: What it looks like when an organization can navigate change well. How L&D can leverage what it already does well to support change management. How to train successful change leaders.

With the rise of online collaboration tools, video meeting platforms and even mobile coaching apps, it’s safe to say that the future of work is digital. To learn more about digital leadership, we’re speaking with Anja Emonds expert research manager at CrossKnowledge. 

The learning and development (L&D) field moves at a fast pace, as societal shifts and emerging technologies continue to impact the business of learning. In honor of Training Industry’s 15-year anniversary, we spoke with Ken Taylor, president and editor-in-chief at Training Industry, to reflect on what’s changed over the last decade and a half and what to expect in the future of the corporate training.

While remote work has its perks, including increased flexibility during such a turbulent time, L&D must ensure leaders have the tools they need to set their remote employees, and their organizations, up for success. We spoke with Sergey Gorbatov and Angela Lane, human performance thought leaders and co-authors of “Fair Talk: Three Steps to Powerful Feedback,” to learn more about giving feedback in a remote workplace. 

Our recently launched research report, “What Makes a Training Organization Great?”, identifies strategic alignment as the most important process capability. With that in mind, today, we spoke with Maggie Redling, manager of learning and development at AvidXchange, Inc., and Coleman Williams, senior manager of human resources and talent operations at AvidXchange, Inc., to learn more about strategic alignment. 

Many businesses are still operating with a remote workforce due to COVID-19, and the sales force is no different. To learn how virtual sales training and coaching can set remote salespeople up for success, we spoke with Mark Magnacca, co-founder and president of Allego. 

Design thinking is all the rage in the training industry lately, as it can help training managers improve learning solutions and make a greater impact. To learn more about how training managers can develop a design mindset — and leverage it for more effective and innovative training solutions — we spoke with Danny Seals, director of design and experience at GP Strategies.

Leadership can make or break organizational success. In a crisis, this is even more true. Companies need leaders who can guide them through these turbulent times and into the future. To learn more about leading during a crisis, we spoke with Maureen Metcalf, chief executive officer of the Innovative Leadership Institute and host of the podcast “Innovative Leadership, Co-Creating Our Future.” Listen now to learn more on:  Best practices for effective crisis leadership training.  The skills leaders need to not only survive but thrive during a crisis.  How leaders can remain agile during times of crisis.

On-the-job coaching has become a popular topic across the learning and development field and business at large. But what does effective on-the-job coaching look like? And what does training have to do with it?  To find out, we spoke with Ronda Bowman, global learning and development leader with HPE Financial Services, and Carolon Donnally, an executive coach with the Internal Revenue Service.

As we recorded this episode, the coronavirus pandemic was impacting nearly all industries — and employees. To find out how learning and development (L&D) can support employee wellness and well-being, we spoke with Celeste Headlee, award-winning journalist, speaker, and bestselling author of “We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter” and “Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving.”