That's a wrap for the HR Labs season four podcast!
Season four was packed with strategies to meet the future-ready, from leveraging AI to building equity into the employee experience. For more resources, access our whitepaper, Meet the Future, Ready: A Guide for Talent Leaders.
What is HR Labs?
HR Labs is a podcast that explores how to create a better employee experience for all your people.
In season 4, new host Summer Salomonsen examines how talent leaders can help make work truly "work" for all employees.
It's no secret that the way we work has changed over the last few years and that people are thinking differently about what they want from their jobs. Along with HR leaders and experts from organizations like McKinsey, Amazon, and Deutsche Post DHL, Summer explored topics like learning, skills, career growth, AI, equity, and more to understand how we can build a more connected workplace.
In case you missed the episode or want to relive the season, here's an episode breakdown.
Episode 4.1 – Let's rebuild work
How can talent leaders lead the way when it comes to rebuilding the way we work?
Carly Cooper, head of culture and transformation at Vianai Systems, talks all about the connection between HR and culture, the components that make up a solid organizational culture, and how talent leaders can lead the way.
Episode 4.2 – Make learning foundational to growth
When we think about employee growth, we think about the skills people need to build to prepare themselves and their organization for the future. So how can talent leaders facilitate learning experiences that lead to opportunities for employees to develop?
Lisa Christensen, director of the learning design center for excellence at McKinsey & Company, unfolds the concept of learning and development as a shared responsibility between organizations and their people. She also discusses how modern apprenticeships can fuse learning and development meaningfully and the role frontline leaders and managers play in making those learning experiences successful.
Episode 4.3 – Turn skills into your new growth language
Upskilling and reskilling are essential for helping today's workforce adapt to changing industries, markets and global environments. But how can skills also drive the growth opportunities that employees crave?
Meredith Wellard, VP of group learning talent and platforms at Deutsche Post DHL, redefines how we think about skills in the workplace. Together, she and Summer explore the results of Deutsche Post DHL's investment in skills and provide a framework for how organizations can put skills to work for their people and their business.
Episode 4.4 – Changing from career paths into career possibilities
It's no surprise: The best way to help people achieve their full potential at work is to provide development opportunities. But are we — organizations and individuals alike — being too limited in thinking about career growth?
Leadership Speaker and Author Julie Winkle Giulioni joins Summer to help us look beyond promotions as the only way to measure career growth. They discuss what it means to provide career possibilities, review a framework managers can use to support their employees' growth needs, and examine why it's so crucial in our current moment to prioritize organic growth opportunities.
Episode 4.5 – Reexamining the Role of HR in the Age of AI
AI is all around us. Still, there's untapped potential in how organizations can leverage the technology, which means HR leaders have the opportunity to see even more benefits.
Chief Research Officer, Author and Podcast Host Ben Eubanks joins Summer to unpack opportunities where AI can support HR functions now and in the future. They explore AI's role in taking on rote and repetitive tasks and helping HR teams become better "people" people by giving us the ability to ask the right questions and execute better judgments.
Episode 4.6 – Putting equity into practice
As HR leaders, it's on us to provide equitable experiences to our employees. But how can we make sure our actions reflect our intentions and deliver on that promise?
Jenn Hultman, leader of global operations and strategy for talent acquisition at Amazon, joins Summer to discuss how we can build equity into the employee lifecycle, starting with recruitment. They walk through how to adopt an equity-focused mindset about recruitment and ways to uphold equitable processes and practices to give every employee access to the same opportunities.
Episode 4.7 – Thinking big and bold about the future-ready workforce
We've had to respond to massive instances of change over the last few years, from navigating remote work to the Great Resignation and skills shortages. What's on the horizon, and how can HR leaders prepare their organizations to be future-ready? This episode seeks to find out.
John Helmer, writer, consultant and the host of his own podcast, The Learning Hack, sits down with Summer Salomonsen for the final episode of the season. They discuss beneficial outcomes of building a future-ready workforce right now and the trends and market shifts shaping tomorrow's learning and talent strategies.
