The Skills Accelerator with Heather Stefanski & Bjorn Billhardt
The Learning & Development Podcast
Intro
This chapter introduces a miniseries on Learning and Development, focusing on the critical Skills Challenge. The speakers highlight the significance of effective L&D practices and the leadership role in addressing skills development within organizations.
CLOs today must ask: Is our work building lasting, relevant skills right now? Are we delivering business impact? Is the work building or diminishing L&Ds effectiveness and credibility? If the answer to any of these questions is no, then perhaps it is time for a skills accelerator approach. This is the title of a CLO Lift report and in this episode, we unpack what it means and why it’s critical to us, in L&D, but more importantly to our organisations and employees.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- L&D professionals need to become true business partners instead of just trainers and focus on the development aspect of their role.
- When you focus on data you are effective, and the rest of the business understands that data.
- Leverage AI and simulations to deliver fast.
- Understand the relevance of each skill. What is it about that skill or new technology that will enable the learner to do their job better?
- When your business does something new, be a part of the rollout so truly relevant learning is available from the start.
BEST MOMENTS
“Capability building can't just be through learning programs. It needs to be truly employee-centric.”
“If we can spend less time churning content, we'll be able to spend more time developing people.”
“The scope of an L&D leader can no longer be just what training program.”
Heather Stefanski
Heather Stefanski is a Partner and Chief Learning and Development Officer at McKinsey & Company, overseeing Learning & Development for 45,000+ global colleagues and leading the People Data and Analytics Teams.
During 28 years at McKinsey, she has held various roles in talent acquisition, professional development, and learning. She has an MBA and MA in Education from Stanford University, and a BS in Engineering and Operations Research from Princeton University.
Bjorn Billhardt
Bjorn Billhardt is co-author of The 12-Week MBA and CEO of Abilitie which has trained 100,000 learners in 50 countries, including rising leaders at Fortune 500 companies like Coca-Cola and GE.
He also co-founded Enspire Learning a custom e-learning development company and was a consultant and corporate trainer for McKinsey & Company.
Bjorn holds a BA from the University of Texas and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He has served on multiple boards, including The Magellan International School, Spa Partisan, the Advisory Board of the University of Texas at Austin School for Undergraduate Studies and the UT-HDO Program.
Report: https://learningforum.substack.com/p/clo-lift-the-skills-accelerator
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
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