The Edge of Work

The Edge of Work has been exploring the role of the manager as well as the emphasis on manager development throughout its three seasons. During this episode, Al breaks down the role of the people manager in today’s world of work. During this episode, Al will cover:Why the manager is back in the spotlightThe challenges that managers face in today’s workplaceHow to Reimagine The Role of the ManagerSome best practices for developing managers fit to lead in today’s workplaceLinks:https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/stop-wasting-your-most-precious-resource-middle-managersKameko Leung and Aspiring Managers: https://podcasts.apple.com/cz/podcast/the-changing-landscape-of-talent-development/id1378433981?i=1000626064591&l=cs HBR Article: https://hbr.org/2023/11/reimagine-your-managerial-pipeline

David Landman is the Former Managing Director of Talent Development at Goldman Sachs, and the Head of Community for PeopleTech Enterprise. With experience leading talent development at Goldman Sachs for over two decades, David has first-hand experience in developing an enterprise talent strategy that aligns technology, people, and organizational systems that unleash the potential and performance of each individual employee so that companies can achieve their desired business results. During the conversation, David spoke about some of his philosophies on talent management & development, ranging from performance management, manager development, to identifying and developing the right kinds of behaviors of managers in his role at Goldman Sachs. David also spoke about what he thinks great management looks like in today’s world of work, the process of aligning individual career goals with organizational goals, and how David sees technology and talent working together to create a better world of work.LinksDavid Landman's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidhlandman/PeopleTech Enterprise: https://www.linkedin.com/company/peopletech-enterprise/David's Linkedin Article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/secret-cultivating-exceptional-teams-human-david-landman-ph-d-Erica Keswin's Episode: https://theedgeofwork.buzzsprout.com/2046865/13657243-s3-e21-reimagining-retention-with-erica-keswin

Michelle Braden is the VP of Global Talent Development at WEX Inc, a global payments processing platform. As a talent development leader, Michelle has held a number of talent development leader roles and has a keen understanding of how talent development can facilitate business outcomes and performance. Here are three key themes from this episode:How the workplace is changing, and the opportunity that talent development plays in creating a better company and better performanceHow talent development impacts not just traditional talent programs, but also new ways of workingThe importance of human leadership, and why it’s critical for today’s world of workA few of the key talent development initiatives she is leading, including a brand new executive development programLinks:Michelle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbraden/Al’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsaldea/

Kevin Yates is a Speaker, Consultant, and Expert on measuring the impact of training and learning inside organizations. During our conversation, we spoke to Kevin about the role of training and learning in a changing world of work, the challenges and opportunities with measuring the impact of training and learning, and Kevin’s own perspective on how companies can better measure the impact of training and learning initiatives inside their organization so that they can elevate the potential of their people and achieve business goals.Links:Kevin’s Website: https://kevinmyates.com/Kevin’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinmyates/

Lou Tedrick is the VP of Global Learning and Development at Verizon. With a remit of overseeing learning that helps employees grow and deliver on business outcomes for 115,000 employees,  Lou and her team are constantly thinking ahead about how learning can support hundreds of thousands of employees across diverse businesses to be more productive, effective and engaged in their work.During our conversation, Lou spoke about the diverse roles and needs of the various business units, and how she and her team have identified ways to scale learning and leadership development experiences for their more than 115,000 employees.  Lou also spoke about how her philosophy for creating workplaces where people can thrive, the importance of supporting employee’s personal and professional growth,  what Verizon looks for and expects out of their leaders, and how Lou and her team approach using cutting edge technology (ex: AI, AR/VR) to help their employees develop the skills they need to deliver in a changing world of work.

In early October, I had the chance to attend Linkedin’s Talent Connect Summit in New York City. During this 2 day event, I had the chance to chat, learn and connect with 1500 talent and HR leaders from across the globe, and to hear from speakers including The Reverend Honorable Dame Jacinda Ardern (Former PM of New Zealand) Spike Lee, to Donna Morris (Chief People Officer, Wal-Mart) and Sherry Cassano (SVP Talent, Pfizer) and April Rinne (Author, Flux: 8 Superpowers For Thriving in Constant Change)In this episode, I share some of my takeaways and learnings from the event, and talk about trends including generative AI, career development and internal mobility. I also share some examples of how companies like Wal-Mart, Pfizer, Cisco, Canva, and NBC Universal are embracing new playbooks to create a better world of work.

Susan Lamotte is the CEO of exaqueo, an employer branding consultancy. With extensive experience in helping companies develop strategies that attract and retain talent, Susan has extensive experience and insight into the state of the workplace, what has changed, and the critical dynamics and relationships that exist between employees and organizations.During our conversation, Susan spoke about the changing landscape of work, the evolution of employer branding and the employee value proposition, as well as some of the common challenges employers face when they struggle with attracting and retaining their top talent.Susan also spoke about the importance of understanding the key relationship dynamics of the employment relationship, identified four critical dimensions of that relationship, and offered advice for how employers can construct and deliver upon employer value propositions that attract talent in today’s changing world of work.LinksSusan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanlamotte/Article: https://www.inc.com/inc-masters/stop-selling-jobs-the-new-employee-relationship.htmlexaqueo : https://www.exaqueo.com 

Melissa Swift is the US Transformation Leader at Mercer, and the Author of the book Work Here Now: Think Like a Human and Build a Powerhouse Workplace.  With expertise in leading human capital transformation across multiple industries, Melissa has a keen eye into what is and isn’t working about work, and in her book, offers a look into the ways in some of the broken and challenging components of the underlying fundamentals of work and the workplace, especially for knowledge workers and what we can do about it to think differently about work.During our conversation, Melissa dove into a history of work, including how elements of work, including the history of human resources, accounting, and performance management impact our workplace today, and how those negatively impact employee engagement, belonging, well-being, and productivity. We also spoke about some of the mindsets and constructs of work, such as “greedy work” and the “anxiety monster” harming companies and organizations, and ultimately, what leaders and organizations can start to do in order to fundamentally shift the way of thinking about how to construct work and create better workplaces.Links:Melissa’s Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/swiftmelissa/ Melissa’s Book: https://www.mercer.com/en-us/insights/people-strategy/hr-transformation/work-here-now-think-like-a-human-build-a-powerhouse-workplace/ Al’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsaldea/

Mita Mallick is the Head of Inclusion, Equity, and Impact at Carta, and the Author of Reimagine Inclusion: Debunking 13 Myths to Transform Your Workplace. As a child, Mita grew up not seeing or hearing stories of people who looked or talked like her, and now, as a former brand management executive turned DEI leader, Podcast Host and author, Mita spends her time using her voice to amplify voices and people like her, and creating workplaces that accurately reflect and represent the people in those communities. During our conversation, Mita spoke about her own journey into the corporate workplace and the challenges and successes that she faced along the way, and how those experiences and others factored into her upcoming book, and why it’s so critical to debunk these myths to create a better world of work.  We also spoke about three specific myths that are covered in the book, and some practical and specific actions we can take in order to create a greater sense of belonging and more inclusive workplaces.Links:Mita’s Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mita-mallick-2b165822/Mita’s Book: https://www.amazon.com/Reimagine-Inclusion-Debunking-Transform-Workplace/dp/1394177097 Brown Table Talk Podcast: https://www.browntabletalkpodcast.com/Did you like this episode? Let Al know → https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsaldea/

Erica Keswin is a consultant, podcast host, and author of the newly released book, The Retention Revolution: 7 Surprising (and Very Human!) Ways to Keep Employees Connected to Your Company. As a longtime HR leader, consultant and researcher on workplace trends, Erica has been observing the changes in employee expectations out of work and the workplace, as well as identifying opportunities to truly rethink the way that we work.During our conversation, Erica spoke about some of the changes in the world of work that she has observed that have only grown over the past few years, as well as what prompted her to look at the employee experience and specifically rethinking some traditional norms of the workplace. We also spoke in depth about how to rethinking some of the traditional norms of the of the employee experience, around onboarding, flexibility, retention, and people managers, along with ideas and best practices Erica found from her work and research that she’s seeing companies implement to attract, engage, and develop employees in today’s world of work.Links:Erica’s Website: https://ericakeswin.com/ Erica’s LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericakeswin/ Erica’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Retention-Revolution-Surprising-Employees-Connected/dp/1265158681