Could your network be the key to your career success and organizational growth? In this episode of Workplace Stories, we chat with Greg Pryor, author of the upcoming book, “The Social Capital Imperative.” Greg explains how social capital—our connections and relationships—drives business outcomes, sparks innovation, and boosts career growth. With the pandemic reshaping work, he argues that shifting from internal networks to open, cross-functional ones is crucial for success today.Greg shares practical strategies for making network-building accessible to individuals, teams, and organizations.He highlights how AI and technology can help unlock the potential of networks, focusing on measurable outcomes. His passion for helping organizations harness the power of social networks makes a strong case for why networks matter in the modern workplace.You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...How focusing on people and networks—not just technology—drives workplace results [1:00]Nine key use cases for network analysis, ranging from career growth to cultural change [2:40]How Post Malone’s collaborations illustrate the power of networks in boosting success [9:00]How “energizing influencers” like Dolly Parton can spark organizational transformation [14:00]How the pandemic shifted networks from open to closed, impacting innovation [29:00]Building networks for career growth, even without organizational support [39:20]How AI can make network analysis more accessible and actionable [44:18]Resources & People MentionedThe Social Capital ImperativeOrganizational Network Analysis (ONA)Amy Edmondson’s work on Psychological SafetyRob Cross - network analysis expertJohn BoudreauConnect with Greg PryorGreg Pryor on LinkedInConnect With Red Thread ResearchWebsite: Red Thread ResearchOn LinkedInOn FacebookOn TwitterSubscribe to WORKPLACE STORIES

What if your L&D team could shift from merely delivering training to truly driving your company’s strategic goals? In this conversation, we talk with Lisa Christensen, McKinsey’s Director of Learning and Innovation. Lisa takes a refreshingly strategic approach, asking not just how L&D can support learning but “To what end?” She shares how her focus on outcomes over output has reshaped McKinsey’s approach to everything from people analytics to building a strong feedback culture.We also talk about why L&D should embrace experimentation, moving far beyond traditional course delivery to tackle big organizational challenges. Lisa makes the case for L&D to collaborate closely with People Analytics and Legal to ensure that learning initiatives aren’t just reactive but strategically positioned for future growth. Her “no regrets” actions offer useful, bold steps for L&D leaders, inspiring us to see the function as a driver of both human and organizational transformation.You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...Why McKinsey's L&D team always starts with the question, "To what end?" [1:00]The risk of L&D focusing only on short-term skill needs [15:00]Collaboration with People Analytics transforming L&D's impact [18:00]L&D teams losing their value by sticking to outdated metrics [20:00]What it means for L&D to have an experimental mindset [31:00]How L&D leaders can ensure their department's stability and credibility [37:00]The “no regrets” actions every L&D team should consider right now [43:00]Resources & People MentionedOliver Wyman Report on Workforce FutureMcKinsey’s Learning & Innovation Center of ExcellenceConnect with Lisa ChristensenConnect with Lisa Christensen on LinkedInConnect With Red Thread ResearchWebsite: Red Thread ResearchOn LinkedInOn FacebookOn TwitterSubscribe to WORKPLACE STORIES

How do you turn a skeptical organization into a believer in the power of Learning & Development? We interviewed Mitchel MacNair, Director of Talent Development and Learning at Crown Castle to find out. Mitchel takes us on a journey from his unconventional background in nuclear engineering and the Navy to leading transformational change in L&D. He tells us how he reshaped Crown Castle’s learning function by aligning it with business strategy, building credibility through data-driven results, and elevating its impact across the organization. You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...How Mitchel’s background in the Navy prepared him for L&D leadership [4:35]Handling the loss of 50% of the L&D team within Mitchel’s first six months [6:20]How organizational chaos impacts strategic L&D changes at Crown Castle [9:29]Transforming L&D from "order takers" to strategic business partners [10:58]The role of the principal designer in Crown Castle’s L&D success [13:20]Collaborating with other functions to focus on outcomes [15:10]Why obtaining business performance data early is critical for L&D success [18:17]Demonstrating a 192% increase in services sold through L&D programs [23:00]How Crown Castle developed their AI policies [35:10]L&D’s role in Crown Castle's skills strategy and future talent planning [41:00]Resources & People MentionedIs Your Genius at Work by Dick RichardsNick Shackleton-Jones (LinkedIn Thought Leader)Connect with Mitchel MacNairMitchel MacNair on LinkedInConnect With Red Thread ResearchWebsite: Red Thread ResearchOn LinkedInOn FacebookOn TwitterSubscribe to WORKPLACE STORIES

Jeremy Shapiro, AVP of Human Resources and Workforce Analytics, and Chris Shultz, Director of HR Intelligent Automation and Gen AI at Merck join us in this forward-thinking conversation. Learn how (and why) Merck is embracing AI to streamline HR processes, support innovation, and maintain ethical considerations. This was hugely educational for us and we hope you get a glimpse into the future of HR tech.You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...What does the future of HR look like in an AI-driven world? [1:17]How can AI serve as a translator and guide for HR professionals? [7:47]How Merck ensures AI is implemented responsibly [8:51]How Merck leveraging AI for massive efficiency gains in HR [12:45]How Merck determines what AI solutions to build internally [16:54]Can HR keep pushing the efficiency frontier with AI, or is there a limit? [19:19] How organizations can support the mental well-being of AI engineers [25:16]How ethics play a crucial role in the development of AI [31:12]What key strategies should HR leaders focus on in the next six months? [37:03]Resources & People MentionedKeith McNulty’s (McKinsey & Company) post about the bias of LLMsBCG’s Research on AI in the workplaceGlint (HR tool)Workday (HR tool)Connect with our GuestsJeremy ShapiroChris ShultzConnect With Red Thread ResearchWebsite: Red Thread ResearchOn LinkedInOn FacebookOn TwitterSubscribe to WORKPLACE STORIES

Skills data can be used to raise the bar in talent acquisition, implement data-driven learning, make strategic workforce planning decisions, help employees reach career aspirations, and much more. Too many organizations are so glued to the idea of perfection that they won’t implement imperfect programs to gather skills data. Dan Weiss and Emily Hacker believe that this mindset is useless.Your skills data won’t be perfect—but it can still be useful and helpful to employees. They share exactly why in this episode of Workplace Stories. You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...Join the RedThread Research Community! [2:53] Learning more about Dan Weiss and Emily Hacker [3:35] Transforming culture before building infrastructure [9:07] How the MetLife culture championed the process [13:23] Their current pilot and the vision for the future [16:40] The lightning round [25:46] How to get buy-in from leadership [30:09]The critical role data plays in skills development [33:09] Their data sources and how they’re using them [36:43] Where does the data live? [40:43] The biggest thing Emily and Dan have learned [43:35] Why Emily and Dan do the work they do [44:26] Resources & People MentionedJoin the RedThread Research Community! Employee Benefits Trends Study Connect with Emily Hacker and Dan WeissConnect with Emily on LinkedInConnect with Dan on LinkedInConnect With Red Thread ResearchWebsite: Red Thread ResearchOn LinkedInOn FacebookOn TwitterSubscribe to WORKPLACE STORIES

Generative AI is taking the world by storm, and the realm of HR is no exception. The use of AI will change a business and it will impact teams. That’s why Angela Cheng-Cimini seeks to answer the question, “How do you make sure your teams are positively impacted by AI?”A lot of the conversation starts with mitigating the fear that surrounds AI. Angela believes one of the ways you can get people to run toward generative AI is to create a safe environment where they can play with it and be amazed by its capabilities. Then, they’ll want to integrate it into their work. In this conversation, Angela shares how—as the CHRO—she’s operationalizing AI experimentation at Harvard Business Publishing. Because, ultimately, “AI is not going to replace humans. But humans will be replaced by humans who use AI.”You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...Learn more about Angela Cheng-Cimini and her role [3:31] The issues Angela is facing in her organization [5:49] Using AI to help with the employee experience [9:51] The Gen AI experiment that Angela ran [13:27] The impact of Gen AI on recruiting[16:06] How to take advantage of AI [18:59] How to justify the expense of AI [22:30] The ethical use of AI in organizations [24:16] Influencing broader AI enablement strategy [26:37] The lightning round [28:19] HR’s role in integrating AI into the workforce [31:11] How to operationalize experimentation [34:00] Angela’s advice to leaders using Gen AI [36:00]Angela’s biggest takeaway from the AI journey [40:34]Why is Angela passionate about HR? [41:28] Resources & People MentionedGenerative AI for EveryoneConnect with Angela Cheng-CiminiConnect on LinkedInHarvard Business Publishing Connect With Red Thread ResearchWebsite: Red Thread ResearchOn LinkedInOn FacebookOn TwitterSubscribe to WORKPLACE STORIES

Matthew Daniel—the Senior Principal for Talent Strategy and Mobility at Guild Education—believes that, in a workplace context, skills are the things we know, can do, and the ways of thinking that help us deliver on business strategy. They are rich, deep, complex, and meaningful.Matthew believes that the “Half-life” statistic that’s been perpetuated about workplace skills is garbage. In this conversation, he details exactly why the half-life of a skill being 2 ½ to 5 years is faulty logic and how we should view skills differently. You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...How to join the RedThread Research community [3:16]Learn more about Matthew Daniel [3:52] The half-life of a workplace skill [6:57] The history of the false statistic [13:20] How this statistic has influenced decisions [20:29] The importance of critical thinking [24:18] The lightning round [31:15] How Matthew talks about skills [34:23] Durable versus perishable skills [38:27]Skills as an equalizer in organizations [40:55] The big takeaway from Matthew’s research [43:28] Resources & People MentionedJoin the RedThread Research community!Matthew’s article: Let’s not obsess about disappearing skills; we need to plan for the ones that’ll stayOn the Obsolescence and Retraining of Engineering PersonnelConnect with Matthew DanielConnect on LinkedInGuild EducationConnect With Red Thread ResearchWebsite: Red Thread ResearchOn LinkedInOn FacebookOn TwitterSubscribe to WORKPLACE STORIES

Ashley Goodall has spent 20 years in various roles in HR, covering everything from performance management to leadership. He spent six years at Cisco as the SVP of HR. He left Cisco to write his book, “The Problem with Change,” which was just released. In it, he addresses the problems that accompany change. To write his book, Ashley interviewed people around the world, asking them to tell their stories of organizational change. Many people told miserable stories, stories of unending change propelled by mergers, new leadership, new strategies, and much more—much of it unnecessary. What was the result?People were struggling to do their jobs because of the constant change. Yet organizations are rewarding leaders to do things that make it hard for their employees to do their work! That’s a problem, right? So, what should we do instead?We have to understand the conditions of human performance to understand how we can “do” change better. Ashley begins to dissect that complicated yet fascinating topic in this episode of Workplace Stories.You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...Join the RedThread Community [1:34]Why you should listen to Ashley Goodall [4:49] What is the problem with change? [7:09]Why Ashley wrote another book about change [10:34]The problems that accompany change [12:45] Looking at meaning and purpose differently [18:53] The story of Alexander the Great [23:38] The connection between meaning and ritual [25:29] We need to stop treating humans like “SKUmans” [29:10]The lightning round [33:08]Getting good at stability management [36:38] What we can learn from “the pistols” [39:59]How to create belonging on your team [44:21]Focusing on your teams to create stability [45:43] Learning how to radicalize HR [48:53] Ashley’s biggest takeaway from writing a book [53:11] The problems that accompany change Ashley addresses five core problem areas that accompany change: UncertaintyLack of control Lack of belonging DisplacementLoss of meaningThe feeling of belonging is intuitive. Humans form social groups. Those groups are massively important to psychological health, sense of identity, and cognitive processes. The way we think is socially mediated. A team gives you a sense of belonging. It’s a source of massive stability. Teammates complement each other so together they can meet a goal that couldn’t be achieved alone. When reorganization happens, all of the social groups at work are upended. In his book, Ashley also dove into the science of “place attachment.” People get attached to places. Place is a thing strongly tied to work. But there’s also a connection between ritual and place.Our habits are a mechanism by which we grow attached to a place. Habits and rituals tied to place have people saying “It’s where I do this” or “It’s where we do this.” When offices are changed or people are moved, you disrupt the rituals attached to that place.Those places are a source of stability. And for people to do their best work, they need stability. All of these facets of a human—certainty, control, social groups, sense of place, ritual—are the foundation of showing up at work and being useful. Everyone wants to be useful. How we design the workplace hinges on these things.Ashley is clear: “Sooner or later you have to ask people what they want and listen to what they tell you.”How Ashley looks at meaning differentlyAshley points out that the world around us must make sense. You can’t be uplifted by the mission of an organization if you can’t figure out what the mission is. Science tells us that the coherence of our world is so important that when it’s taken away in one place, we find it in another.There are two ingredients to meaning:Things have to make sense (which is shredded when things are changed)You need to find your own purpose. Someone can’t tell you what your purpose is We encounter the world and question, “Do I understand what’s going on here? Is this something that speaks to me?” If it does and someone asks if your work has meaning, you’ll say “yes.” Unfortunately, people think everyone around them has to have the same meaning. It doesn’t work like that. As much as they dislike it, employers aren’t massively important to someone’s purpose.We need to stop treating humans like “SKUmans”What characteristics of humans do we capture in our technology at work? How does that inform how we think about people at work? We track the “cogs in a machine” stuff. We record names, date of birth, someone’s role, their certifications and experience, etc. but we don’t record what amuses someone, what makes them smile, and the weird things they love to do. Maybe they’re always late for meetings, love to bake, or love creating spreadsheets.If you think humans are interchangeable and emotionless beings, how would you describe them? As a “SKU” number. SKUs are stock-keeping units. They track what something costs, where it is in the store, what the margin is, etc. We’ve been doing the same to humans. And that’s massively inhuman. We can’t capture human work this way. How might we capture a human at work?Ashley argues for getting better at understanding what people are like at work. It’s about asking questions like, “How are you offering your best to other humans? Why did you show up today?”Now that we’ve covered the problems with change, how do we address them? Ashley shares how stability management just might be the key (and how to navigate it) in this episode.Resources & People MentionedJoin the RedThread Community!Connect with Ashley GoodallThe Problem with Change: And the Essential Nature of Human PerformanceConnect on LinkedInConnect With Red Thread ResearchWebsite: Red Thread ResearchOn LinkedInOn FacebookOn TwitterSubscribe to WORKPLACE STORIES

In the Ancient Greece of Homeric times and mores, the concept of gifting, or gift-friendship, ξενία (‘xenia’) was central. Assuming your fellow Greeks would observe xenia allowed you to travel in the hope you’d be good for food and shelter for the night from strangers on your Odyssey; in exchange, travelers would leave a parting gift in thanks. At many points in The Odyssey, we see xenia in action, like when Eumaeus the Swineherd shows it to the disguised Odysseus, noting guests always come under the protection of Zeus. Well, we’ve reached the end of our own Skills Odyssey here, and so we thought it appropriate to give you, our fellow travellers, some xenia back: and it’s in the delightful shape of this bonus episode with our great final conversation with a CLO making experiments and achieving early results with a new approach to Skills, GE Healthcare’s very honest and informed David Sperl. It’s a conversation that covers his use of machine learning and analytics—again, underlining how key these practices are now in serious HR—as well as how dealing with challenges like replacing a zoo of older HR IT with one new global replacement just as is his division is being divested by its parent. He does a great job sharing learnings and best practice; it’s a bit of xenia in its own right—as Dani says in the episode, “That's one of the things that I really like about HR: if once you solve the problem, you can share that with other people, because it's going to work different in their organizations anyway.” And as she goes on to say, in this Odyssey we've seen tons of people being very honest and transparent with us about what they're doing—which is xenia all of us can treasure. Please also note we have yet another gift to close the Season, though, which you will hear about right at the beginning. Now it’s time to head back to shore--but we’ll be back very soon with more things to inform, help and challenge you.

Something’s happened to this week’s guest, Meredith Wellard. And it’s actually something quite wonderful; you can hear it in her voice, animating and energizing her. It’s a mix of excitement at possibility--and almost relief that a lot of checks she’s been trying to cash all her years in HR, L&D and talent management can finally be honored. Her secret? It’s the immediate impact on her organization, Deutsche Post DHL Group (she’s an Australian living and working in Bonn, Germany), she’s getting from a new machine learning and data analytics-powered approach to Skills. She and her team—as you’ll learn over the sound of Homer’s ‘wine-dark sea’ and your oars ,as you race ahead on this leg of our almost-concluded Skills Odyssey—have used that tech to create a unique career marketplace. You’ll soon know why she wants to call it that instead of a ‘Skills’ one) that will eventually be the friendly, automated, and incredibly well-informed training and new job (or even new career path) digital assistant for all of its half million global workforce. No wonder she’s inspired: and we think you soon will be as well.

Deloitte is different. It’s different for, of course, its unique approach to solving customer problems, as well as its sheer size and scale. But in the context of a Skills Odyssey, it’s also pretty unique for having a) an ‘agency’ structure that makes it peculiarly receptive to new ways of organizing around Skills, and b) an openness to try new things. It’s also full, of course, of very smart people… we’d know, as both Stacia and Dani are alumni! But today’s guest, Chief Learning Officer of Deloitte’s US operation, Eric Dingler, isn’t interested in the past. In fact, he’s pretty critical about what Deloitte (and the rest of us in L&D) didn’t get right historically (“a talent/career model-level role hasn't allowed us to be as agile as we need to be and enable our organization to be as agile”) around career development. Instead, he’s very, very much about the future. In our discussion, you’ll see that for yourself as we cover a wide range of topics, from what it’s like to be in the CLO cockpit for a 145,000 person end of a half million-strong people organization, the central importance of agility as the lens Deloitte wants to see things through going forward, the role of data and analytics—even how he knows what L&D does really can touch so many people, making a better world for us all. We’re really glad we spoke to this fellow Skills Odyssey voyager; we suspect you will be, too.

Setting up this week’s conversation, Dani promises that this one’s a “must-listen for anyone who's trying to figure out how to make Skills work in their organization.” Bold claim? Not when you realize we’re talking about what a 200,000 person, multi-billion-dollar financial services leader is trying to do with Skills both operationally--and with the help of tech from HR system market leaders like Degreed and Workday. That’s the project as far as our guest, Christopher Funk, Senior Vice President - Talent and Performance Management Platforms over at Citi, is concerned, for sure. It’s a very honest, very detailed, and very open conversation from someone already a way across the seas of The Skills Odyssey; we invite you guys to decide if all that really does make it a “must-listen.” As Dani also says, we’ve all been in too many conversations where 45 minutes is spent arguing over if Skills are a skill or a competency or a capability or a trait or a characteristic; Mike’s got a useful answer for that one, too. So overall, we’re pretty sure Mike cashes the check.

In L&D, we talk a lot about creating the conditions for learning: isn’t that kind of definitional about what we do? Well, maybe we need to tear up the rule book and start thinking a bit harder about what that means in a much more digital, much more automating, much more diverse, and much more unstable world than maybe we all got comfortable with. That’s certainly our read on what Vidya Krishnan, one of RedThread’s favorite learning thinkers and practitioners, is doing over at Scandinavian telco giant Ericsson. And, you’ll be relieved to learn, while Skills is absolutely the key she’s using to unlock some big doors there, marked things like ‘Future’ and ‘Becoming Your Own Career CEO,’ and data the rocket fuel, she says, maybe like you do, that it’s a journey she’s on… maybe, indeed, an Odyssey. But it’s one we can all start, she reassures us in this, one of our best conversations for a long time. Oh, one last thing: you might be wanting pizza near the end. Don’t worry, you can tell the boss it’s for Skills research.

Sometimes you feel you’re in the eye of the hurricane: so much is happening in terms of our wider society in terms of changing expectations, changing ways of working, changing life choices. Add the potentially explosive compound called ‘Diversity’ into all this, and it can start to feel a little hot in here. But, advises this week’s special guest and DEIB and L&D expert practitioner Jesse Jackson, CLO for JPMorgan Chase with a special focus on the Wall St’s giant’s consumer community banking business: when it comes to getting DEIB right, it’s not heat you want: it’s light. This is a really fascinating chance to find out from a person deep in the midst of all the changes we’re talking about, but also deep in a blue-chip financial services firm that always has to see things in terms of achievable ROI. We’ll let you decide if you agree that’s what Jesse’s achieving: us, we’re hunkering down in the place where it’s always the most interesting… that hurricane’s eye. Because that's where change happens.