Boston Scientific is looking at workforce planning in an entirely new way. We got the rare chance to hear all about it from Brenda Kowske, their Senior Director of Talent Analytics and Workforce Planning. With 50,000 employees worldwide and a rapidly growing footprint, they’re navigating big challenges with fresh approaches.We talked with Brenda about how her team is breaking down traditional HR silos, integrating workforce planning into business decisions, and staying ahead of the curve with AI...
Mar 05, 2025•41 min•Ep 97•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of Workplace Stories, we sit down with Heather Bussing, a California employment lawyer, to break down the recent executive orders on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I). Heather brings her sharp legal perspective, offering clarity on what these orders actually mean for businesses—especially those in the private sector—and how employers can navigate this complex landscape without overreacting. Heather is direct, no-nonsense, and refreshingly calm in the face of the confusi...
Feb 19, 2025•41 min•Ep 98•Transcript available on Metacast We sat down with Tapaswee Chandele, Senior Vice President of Global Talent Development and System Partnerships at Coca-Cola, to talk about what it really takes to help managers succeed. She’s direct, transparent, and refreshingly honest about the challenges leaders face today—and what companies need to do to make things simpler. From setting clear expectations to measuring what matters, Tapaswee breaks down the way Coca-Cola supports managers without overcomplicating the process. One of the huge...
Feb 05, 2025•47 min•Ep 97•Transcript available on Metacast In 2025, the HR landscape is already transforming–quickly. With AI moving from hype to reality, workforce cultures evolving, and organizations pausing to get their data and systems in order, leaders face both big opportunities and bigger decisions. To truly make sense of it all, we sat down with Stacey Harris, Chief Research Officer at Sapient Insights Group, whose decades of experience as both a practitioner and industry analyst give her a grounded, data-backed perspective on what HR teams need...
Jan 22, 2025•44 min•Ep 96•Transcript available on Metacast Most organizations waste money on L&D technology because they don’t think like investors. We sat down with Kimberly Williams, CEO of Absorb Software, to talk about her unique perspective on learning and development technology. As someone with a private equity background, Kimberly offers a fresh take on how investment thinking can shape smarter decisions in the L&D space.Our conversation covered everything from AI’s role in upskilling to trends driving workforce productivity. Kimberly sha...
Jan 08, 2025•47 min•Ep 95•Transcript available on Metacast Cari Bohley, Vice President of Talent Management at Peraton, talks about solving real workplace problems by focusing on skills. From finding highly specialized talent in competitive markets to helping employees see clear career paths, Cari explains how tools like AI are changing the game. She shares what it takes to turn skills into a practical solution for hiring, retention, and engagement—especially in an industry where the stakes are high. Her story offers actionable insights for tackling cha...
Dec 27, 2024•42 min•Ep 94•Transcript available on Metacast What happens to an organization when learning and development disappears? It’s a question more leaders are facing as L&D teams shrink or are deprioritized, even as the demand for a skilled workforce grows. Michelle Kay, Head of Learning and Development at Albertsons, has a clear answer: the unique expertise of L&D is irreplaceable. Managing learning for over 355,000 associates across one of the nation’s largest grocery chains, Michelle demonstrates how L&D can be a driving force behi...
Dec 23, 2024•41 min•Ep 93•Transcript available on Metacast We had an incredible conversation with Nick Hudgell, Global Head of People Insights at Sanofi, about the transformative power of data governance and AI in HR. Nick shared how his team has built an infrastructure that connects disparate systems, improves data quality, and uses machine learning to unlock insights that genuinely improve employee experiences. From rethinking engagement surveys to launching AI-powered tools like the Sanofi Concierge, Nick made the case for why data is the backbone of...
Dec 18, 2024•55 min•Ep 92•Transcript available on Metacast We had an incredible conversation with Don Taylor and Eglė Vinauskaitė about their report, AI and L&D: Intention and Reality . Their research goes deep into how AI is reshaping learning and development, from streamlining tasks like content creation to enabling strategic integration across organizations. Don and Eglė talked about the fact that AI’s potential goes far beyond efficiency—it’s about solving meaningful business challenges and driving innovation through smarter decision-making. A s...
Dec 04, 2024•52 min•Ep 89•Transcript available on Metacast What happens when AI moves faster than the people who implement it? Christopher Lind, executive advisor and industry expert, shares stories of organizations that got it wrong—sometimes with devastating consequences. From replacing entire teams with AI to accelerating broken processes, the conversation reveals how quickly things can unravel when technology outpaces understanding. At the same time, there’s tremendous opportunity if AI is handled with care. We explored what it takes to keep humans ...
Nov 20, 2024•49 min•Ep 90•Transcript available on Metacast Cole Napper, FedEx’s Global Head of People Analytics, joined us to explore the real versus ideal roles of AI in HR and people analytics, focusing on practical application and real-world impact. Cole highlighted AI’s current limitations, especially the problem of “anti-productive work,” where technology demands extra effort rather than reducing it. His perspective emphasizes the need for critical thinking in analytics to ensure AI truly serves organizational goals. Cole also talked about the stru...
Nov 06, 2024•50 min•Ep 87•Transcript available on Metacast 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 prac...
Oct 23, 2024•47 min•Ep 88•Transcript available on Metacast 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 t...
Oct 09, 2024•47 min•Ep 87•Transcript available on Metacast 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 resul...
Sep 25, 2024•44 min•Ep 86•Transcript available on Metacast 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 loo...
Sep 11, 2024•43 min•Ep 82•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Aug 28, 2024•46 min•Ep 84•Transcript available on Metacast 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 b...
Aug 14, 2024•44 min•Ep 83•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Jul 31, 2024•45 min•Ep 82•Transcript available on Metacast 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 prop...
Jul 17, 2024•56 min•Ep 80•Transcript available on Metacast The mission of Microsoft is to empower every person in every organization to achieve more. An enterprise-wide skills focus is one way they’re fulfilling their mission. It’s about moving beyond job titles and fixed roles to give freedom and flexibility to apply skills and expertise where they matter the most. And it’s all in service of creating an environment where growing one’s career is the top reason to join and stay at Microsoft. They’re using human verification to give the individual control...
May 29, 2024•53 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast “Skills are like oxygen, invisible but necessary.” This mindset shift is the brainchild of Vidya Krishnan, the Chief Learning Officer, and Peter Sheppard, the Head of the Global L&D Ecosystem at Ericsson. Much of their job is identifying the oxygen and making it visible so they can do something with it. To do this, they’re taking a top-down and bottom-up approach. They’ve worked with senior leadership to define seven key skills they think everyone in the organization needs. They also work wi...
May 08, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast How do we define work and the skills needed to do the work? The way we view and assess skills is often through assessing and appraising someone’s output. But the problem is that most organizations aren’t capturing the right data and using it to gain insight. According to Matt Donovan—the Chief Learning and Innovation Officer at GP Strategies—Job descriptions and skills in general describe the baseline. They are not what makes someone great at what they do. So how do we define the work and the sk...
Apr 03, 2024•57 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology, and talent to get ahead of disease together. They aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of 2030. In her role as the VP of People Data & Analytics, Angela is responsible for generating value from their people data. She has the opportunity to shape thinking and inform strategy. Her job is to translate skills so that everyone can do what they need to with the data. She shares more about...
Mar 20, 2024•45 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast Sandra Loughlin is the Chief Learning Officer and the Global Head of Talent Enablement and Transformation at EPAM, a software engineering and consulting firm. Unlike many of the organizations we’ve spoken about, EPAM has been on a skills journey since its inception over 30 years ago. Building a skills-based organization has been the backbone of everything they do. In this conversation, Sandra shares why the juice is indeed “Worth the squeeze.”...
Mar 06, 2024•51 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast When Oliver (Ollie) Drury joined Booking.com, they dove into digital transformation by simplifying their tech stack—and reducing variables—using a middleware to stitch everything together. That enabled them to have a simpler set of variables from which to create their skills ecosystem. Their driving goal was to solve skills for the entire organization. In this conversation, Ollie shares how they’re working to accomplish a skills-based transformation by first focusing on digital transformation. Y...
Feb 21, 2024•52 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast According to Gina Jeneroux, company culture sets the foundation for skills readiness. If a company culture isn’t supportive of innovation and creativity, is it ready to support an initiative to focus on skills? Skills should be infused into everything you do in your organization and supported from the top down. Gina has spent almost 40 years in the financial services and learning industries. She spent the last few years running BMO’s corporate university and serving as Chief Learning Officer. In...
Feb 07, 2024•54 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the newest season of Workplace Stories. It will come as no surprise that we’re devoting season 11 to continuing our conversation around skills. Why? Because there are still questions to be answered. In these opening arguments, we’ll share the questions we’re being asked, what we’re looking forward to, and we’ll give you a sneak-peak of some of the amazing guests we’ll be having conversations with. Connect With Red Thread Research Website: Red Thread Research On LinkedIn On Facebook On...
Feb 06, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jennifer Rogers is the Executive Officer in the Learning Technology Standards Committee at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), which has 427,000+ members in over 190 countries. The IEEE is the world’s largest trade organization and the professional home for engineering and technology communities worldwide. Jennifer is an unrelenting advocate for the potential that exists in others, which is why she’s a perfect fit at IEEE. IEEE is working together to figure out skills a...
Dec 06, 2023•56 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast According to Yelena Mammadova, Ed.D—the Associate Director of Learning, Skills Transformation Initiative at McKinsey—McKinsey seeks to bring impact to clients and create an organization where they attract, excite, and retain exceptional people. The primary goal of her department is to accelerate talent development. Yelena strives to connect human development and technology in her role. She is one our first guests who’s talked about generative AI and how it’s embedded into their skills effort. Th...
Nov 22, 2023•49 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast Transitioning a large company like Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to a skills-based organization could be a daunting task. That’s why focusing on scope and purpose was an important place to start for Vandana Bhagtani and Kaye Slay. In this conversation, Vandana—The Director of Technical Talent Management—and Kaye—The User Experience and Adoption Lead for Talent and Learning Systems—share how they’ve worked together to develop a strategy for transitioning HPE to a skills-based organization. The...
Nov 08, 2023•50 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast 
