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Workplace Stories is a podcast for HR and people leaders who are tired of noise and need clarity that actually holds up. It is hosted by Stacia Garr and Dani...
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Workplace Stories is a podcast for HR and people leaders who are tired of noise and need clarity that actually holds up. It is hosted by Stacia Garr and Dani Johnson of RedThread Research.
Each episode features candid conversations with practitioners, thinkers, and executives who are navigating real decisions inside complex organizations. Not hypotheticals. Not vendor promises. Real tradeoffs, real experiments, and real lessons learned along the way.
You’ll hear how leaders are making sense of skills, AI, organizational design, and culture when there’s no clear playbook and pressure to show progress is high. The focus is always the same: what’s actually working, what isn’t, and what leaders are doing next.
Workplace Stories helps you make sense of complexity, build credibility with evidence, and move from ideas to action with more confidence.
Want to be part of the conversation? Join our community for free and connect with others shaping the future of work.
Learn more about RedThread Research here: https://redthreadresearch.com/home
mostra meno
Each episode features candid conversations with practitioners, thinkers, and executives who are navigating real decisions inside complex organizations. Not hypotheticals. Not vendor promises. Real tradeoffs, real experiments, and real lessons learned along the way.
You’ll hear how leaders are making sense of skills, AI, organizational design, and culture when there’s no clear playbook and pressure to show progress is high. The focus is always the same: what’s actually working, what isn’t, and what leaders are doing next.
Workplace Stories helps you make sense of complexity, build credibility with evidence, and move from ideas to action with more confidence.
Want to be part of the conversation? Join our community for free and connect with others shaping the future of work.
Learn more about RedThread Research here: https://redthreadresearch.com/home
Workplace Stories by RedThread Research
Workplace Stories by RedThread Research
Stacia Garr & Dani JohnsonEpisodi & Post
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16 SET 2026 · When we think about culture, compensation is rarely at the heart of the conversation. But how organizations approach pay, structure, transparency, and performance ties speaks volumes about their values and priorities. We sit down with Colleen McCreary, former Chief People Officer at Credit Karma, to explore the intricacies of compensation as a strategic organizational system.
Colleen shares how a convoluted pay structure led to a complete overhaul at Credit Karma, resulting in a transparent, role-based compensation system focused on fairness and impact. We discuss pay transparency, the difference between impact and performance, eliminating performance ratings, and introducing a living wage initiative that aligned pay practices with organizational values.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...
- [01:25] Transparent processes for compensation decisions
- [06:01] Alignment of compensation practices with company mission of financial wellness
- [10:41] Discussing compensation systems
- [20:11] Designing the employee compensation structure
- [30:46] Restructuring team roles and pay
- [33:19] Addressing pay equity issues
- [53:10] Developing a promotion budget model
- [56:14] Managing underperformers and their compensation
Building the Relationship
Pay is central to the employment relationship, the systems around it are often opaque, and inconsistent—and that breeds confusion and erodes trust. Many leaders default to inherited systems or fail to connect the dots between compensation and the broader organizational culture. This neglect carries hidden costs of noisy complaints, employee disengagement, unhealthy attrition, and management headaches.
Redefining Pay Transparency
Traditionally, pay transparency means posting salary ranges or employee pay for all to see. Credit Karma’s approach went much further. In their context, transparency meant everyone understood how compensation worked: how often it was evaluated, by what benchmark, and through what decision-making process. It wasn’t about broadcasting individual pay; it was about demystifying systems, leveling the informational playing field, and removing the perception of favoritism or randomness.
When Credit Karma rolled out its new compensation structure, employee perceptions of fairness soared. Surveys found over 90% of respondents felt their pay was fair, even if it wasn’t always exactly what they wanted, compared to a baseline closer to 50%.
Leveling the Playing Field
Credit Karma moved to a role-based pay system: everyone in the same role, at the same location, received the same compensation—no negotiations or special deals. Annual and merit bonuses were rolled into base salaries, and instead of annual performance increases, pay adjustments were driven by market comparisons at regular intervals.
This meant that newly hired employees could no longer leapfrog existing ones in pay, removing a frequent source of managerial angst and employee resentment. Managers were freed from salary negotiations and instead spent energy on developing talent, while systemic reviews twice a year ensured pay stayed competitive without employees having to ask.
Decoupling Compensation from Performance Ratings
An innovative move was uncoupling compensation from traditional performance ratings. By eliminating ratings, Credit Karma relied on promotions and defined job architecture to help employees progress, using clear criteria for advancement. To recognize outstanding contributions, they created an Exceptional Impact Program (EIP), using stock grants to reward employee impact rather than routine high performance.
Acceptance rates in recruiting increased, and attrition rates fell during tumultuous periods in both the company and the wider world. The new system also built organizational trust, employees no longer questioned whether newcomers or others were being paid unfairly; they could focus on their roles and development, knowing the system was both transparent and fair.
Resources & People Mentioned
- https://www.creditkarma.com/
- https://www.confluent.io/
- https://www.intuit.com/
- https://www.cultureamp.com/
- https://www.aon.com/en/capabilities/human-capital-analytics/radford-mclagan-compensation-database
- https://www.salesforce.com/
- https://livingwage.mit.edu/
- https://medium.com/@colleenwheelermccreary
Connect with Colleen McCreary
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleenmccrearychiefpplofficer/
Connect With RedThread Research
- Website: https://redthreadresearch.com/
- On https://www.linkedin.com/company/redthread-research/
Subscribe to https://pod.link/1554931884
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2 SET 2026 · In this episode, I welcome Tracie Cantu, Chief Learning Strategist and author of Running L&D Like a Business. We discuss the operational challenges facing today’s L&D teams, the critical distinction between workflows and processes, and the dangers of succumbing to “shiny object syndrome” in the era of AI. From the looming risk of a mid-level talent gap to predictions about the future of L&D itself, our conversation offers practical frameworks, strategic advice, and a glimpse into what it will take for learning leaders to thrive in an uncertain future.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...
- 06:39 Optimizing learning function operations
- 08:14 Defining workflows vs processes
- 16:33 Evaluating investment value in L&D
- 18:35 Using the ‘5 Whys’ method
- 24:29 Discussing the problem-solving mindset
- 30:09 Training models and workforce readiness
- 36:45 AI in talent acquisition and L&D challenges
- 43:09 Expectations and projections for L&D's future
The Power of Process Over Workflow
Traditionally, L&D departments have been highly reactive—responding to requests, putting out fires, and churning out solutions, often without a clear line of sight to business goals. Tracy sees L&D as an optimizer of systems more than anything.
She distinguishes between workflows—a series of tasks, often repeated for each new problem—and processes, which are more strategic, goal-oriented, and repeatable across scenarios. Many L&D teams are stuck in workflow mode, leading to reinventing the wheel rather than building scalable, impactful models. Processes enable organizations to rise above reactive task management, free up resources for strategic initiatives, and lay the groundwork for measuring real business value.
People, Processes, and Technology
Tracie’s operating model blueprint has three pillars—people, process, and technology:
- People: Are the right skills in the right roles? Or are teams over-indexed in content production but lacking capabilities in data and strategy?
- Process: Are you operating by checklists or by cohesive, strategy-backed processes that align to business goals?
- Technology: Do your tools work together as an ecosystem, or are they siloed, duplicating effort and data?
L&D teams often falter at the process stage where prioritization, governance, and strategic trade-offs live. Without this backbone, even the shiniest technology will fail to deliver.
Why AI Isn’t a Silver Bullet
Too often, L&D falls prey to “shiny object syndrome”—embracing new technologies before understanding whether they solve any actual problem. Tracie shares the story of a company that spent half a million dollars on VR headsets for employee training, only to realize that what the team needed was human interaction and real feedback, not another gadget. Lots of organizations see AI as a means to crank out content faster, rather than as a tool to fundamentally rethink how we solve business challenges. For AI or any new tech to really be transformative in L&D, the back end—data, processes, and governance—needs to be tight. Otherwise, as Tracie says, “garbage in, garbage out, only louder with AI.”
The Future of L&D
Tracie shares why she thinks L&D may be split into a production-focused function in the future, essentially an in-house content shop, and a more strategic workforce enablement team, possibly absorbed into talent or HR. The risk is that as organizations cut costs and chase efficiency, they neglect long-term skills development, creating a skills dearth by 2032.
Who will be responsible for upskilling and reskilling when L&D is gone? If L&D disappears, the job may fall to talent acquisition or management, but neither is equipped to oversee ongoing learning at scale. L&D professionals who embrace business partnership, systems thinking, and continuous reinvention can still carve out vital space within organizations. The path forward requires tough choices—rethinking team structure, adopting true process discipline, and resisting the allure of fast fixes.
Resources & People Mentioned
- https://www.yourclo.net/running-l-d-like-a-business
- https://a.co/d/0jcXugwg
- https://a.co/d/08x8PTBw
- https://liccardo.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-liccardo-introduces-skill-act-prepare-workers-ai-driven-job-market-shifts
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulocarvao/2026/07/01/connect-education-to-jobs-and-create-an-ai-workforce-transition-system/
- https://youtu.be/x-FLnQrUGTc?si=N8Cfpb7AkrvCAMyn
Connect with Tracie Cantu
- https://www.yourclo.net/
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/traciemcantu/
Connect With RedThread Research
- Website: https://redthreadresearch.com/
- On https://www.linkedin.com/company/redthread-research/
Subscribe to https://pod.link/1554931884
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19 AGO 2026 · This week on the podcast, we welcome Jennifer McCollum, President and CEO of Catalyst and author of the new book Men at Work: The Roadmap to Gender Partnership. Jennifer shares her perspective on whether true gender equity in the workplace can be achieved without fully engaging men in the solution. We dig into the data showing that modern workplaces are failing not just women, but men as well—fueling rigid expectations and limiting everyone’s potential. We discuss Catalyst’s new earned universalism framework in response to legal and societal shifts, and discuss practical strategies HR and talent leaders can use to advance inclusion, even as DEIB functions are restructured or absorbed into other parts of the business.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...
- [00:00] Discussing gender equity strategies
- [07:09] Catalyst's workplace research and commitment
- [12:52] Work-life stress and gender expectations
- [16:50] Evaluating post-E.O. impact study
- [18:23] Balancing inclusion and flexibility
- [20:54] Focus shift from metrics to fairness
- [26:27] Promoting equal parental leave
- [33:28] Leadership and cultural transformation
- [39:48] Changing organizational culture for managers
A Universal Approach to Inclusion Can Transform Work for Everyone
For decades, the chief narrative was that workplaces weren’t built to support women. But Catalyst’s research is now surfacing a broader truth: many modern work environments also fall short for men. Data from their studies reveal that 82% of men feel immense pressure to conform to traditional “man box” stereotypes—such as competitiveness and emotional restraint—while 87% long for more freedom to express traits like empathy and kindness. Crucially, this “man box” doesn’t just restrict individual men. Because men still comprise much of senior leadership, these norms perpetuate rigid, stifling workplace cultures that limit everyone.
Introducing Earned Universalism: Catalyst’s New Inclusion Framework
Faced with mounting political and legal pressures—such as recent executive orders impacting DEI practices—many organizations are anxious about how to maintain progress without running afoul of the law. In response, Catalyst, in partnership with NYU’s Meltzer Center, introduced the concept of earned universalism.
This framework acknowledges the paradox between the desire for inclusion that serves everyone and the need to support those long disadvantaged by systemic barriers. The idea is not to abandon equity, but to earn the right to universal policies by first removing specific barriers holding marginalized groups back.
Practical Steps for HR Leaders
With DEI departments being restructured and relabeled in many organizations, HR leaders face unique challenges. The key is to integrate partnership skills—such as curiosity, courage, accountability, and allyship—into broader talent, culture, and leadership development programs.
Jennifer outlines a 5B framework for building gender partnership:
- Begin with You: Start with self-reflection and awareness
- Break Down What’s Not Working: Address both individual and systemic obstacles
- Build Up What’s In It for Men: Explicitly communicate how everyone gains from equity
- Bridge the Gender Gap: Model and drive behaviors that close divides at all levels
- Bring Humanity to Work: Foster real human connection and openness.
Workplace equity isn’t about ceding ground or ticking boxes; it’s about pushing past old dichotomies and building cultures where all people belong and can contribute fully.
Resources & People Mentioned
- https://www.amazon.com/Men-Work-Roadmap-Gender-Partnership/dp/1637748078
- https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Women-Work-Will-Lead/dp/0385349947
- https://www.amazon.com/Her-Own-Voice-Overcoming-Leadership/dp/1637744102
- https://leanin.org/report/women-in-the-workplace/
- https://www.catalyst.org/insights/2025/risks-of-retreat-path-forward
Connect with Jennifer McCollum
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferscherermccollum/
Connect With RedThread Research
- Website: https://redthreadresearch.com/
- On https://www.linkedin.com/company/redthread-research/
Subscribe to https://pod.link/1554931884
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5 AGO 2026 · Leadership is often the deciding factor in whether organizations thrive or falter, but the way we lead matters even more. In the latest episode of Workplace Stories, Dr. Benjamin Granger, Chief Workplace Psychologist at Qualtrics and author of A Leader Worth Following, explores why so many organizations still default to dominance-based leadership, and what it means to build cultures that reward prestige-based approaches instead. Blending insights from evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, and years of workplace research, Ben shares his thoughts on how leadership styles shape employee experience and business success.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...
- 00:00 Discussing Leadership Challenges and Trust
- 06:21 Understanding organizational psychology
- 07:30 Balancing theory and practical application
- 14:50 Playing the power politics game
- 20:00 Discussing organizational power shifts
- 22:36 Operating under dominant leaders
- 35:12 Handling Uncertainty as a Leader
- 37:46 Influence of environment on behavior
- 40:58 The impact of physical environment
- 50:44 Focusing on honest feedback
The Evolutionary Roots of Leadership
Most social animals, including humans, establish hierarchies where certain individuals rise to the top. In non-human species, this rise is usually based on dominance: the biggest, strongest, or most aggressive become the alphas by imposing their will on others. Humans, however, have developed an alternative: prestige. Prestige-based leaders earn followership by demonstrating genuine competence and contributing to the group's well-being, prompting others to follow willingly rather than out of fear or obligation.
Prestige is one of the things that makes us the most evolutionarily distinct. But despite its clear advantages, modern organizations too often favor dominance. Dominance works in the short term, it gets quick results, especially in high-pressure situations, but, like alphas in the animal kingdom, it’s always temporary and can be overturned by newer, stronger rivals.
Why Organizations Default to Dominance
Despite prestige-based leadership delivering better outcomes, structural pressures and cultural inertia mean that organizations still often rely on dominance. Environments that obsess over immediate results—hitting quarterly numbers, quick responses to crises—inevitably reward those who can “get it done now,” even if it means sidelining empathy, trust-building, or transparency.
Organizations often pay lip service to soft skills, layering emotional intelligence and empathy expectations over systems fundamentally designed for command-and-control. This is backward, though, every organization exists to meet the needs of other people, and if it doesn't do that, it doesn't exist.
Building Prestige-Based Cultures
Changing leadership norms starts with both organizational systems and individual behaviors.
- Audit Your Core Values: Are they truly reflected in observable behaviors and environmental cues—from glass doors symbolizing transparency to real open Q&As in all-hands meetings?
- Measure What Matters: Don’t just reward outcomes; examine how results were achieved, looking for consistency with your stated values.
- Foster High-Fidelity Communication: In an age of automation and AI, preserve spaces for genuine human dialogue to counteract the erosion of trust and connection.
- Invest in Leadership Skills: Require training in rhetoric, body language, and executive presence for all leaders—not to polish surface impressions, but to deepen real influence and trust.
The Future of Leadership in an AI World
AI and automation are accelerating every aspect of business, but they also risk stripping away the very things that make organizations human. Rigid digital systems (like micromanaged expense policies) can signal distrust as surely as an angry boss. If organizations lean too heavily on these tools, they may unwittingly degrade the high-trust, collaborative communication on which true prestige-based leadership is built.
As Benjamin says, “Mankind's greatest achievements have come about by talking, its greatest failures by not talking. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking”. Leadership for the future is about mastery of self and service to others, pulling people forward by example, not pushing them down by force.
Resources & People Mentioned
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/steventhunt/
- https://joshbersin.com/
- https://ilaglobalnetwork.org/awards/leadership-legacy-program/edgar-schein/
- https://www.hawking.org.uk/
- https://a.co/d/0a4yOCEb
- https://www.ynharari.com/book/sapiens/
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/258792?origin=crossref&seq=1
Connect with Benjamin Granger
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-granger-7147991b/
Connect With RedThread Research
- Website: https://redthreadresearch.com/
- On https://www.linkedin.com/company/redthread-research/
Subscribe to https://pod.link/1554931884
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22 LUG 2026 · When IBM spun off its infrastructure services business into Kyndryl, it created the largest public company spin in New York Stock Exchange history—launching with 90,000 employees and a daunting reality: 60% of customer accounts were unprofitable, and revenues were shrinking. Amid intense pressure to reset the trajectory, Kyndryl’s then-CHRO Maryjo Charbonnier architected a workforce strategy that prioritized people, data, and adaptability. On the podcast this week, Maryjo shares her expertise on how to build a skills-centric enterprise ready for an AI-powered future.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...
- [04:22] Overcoming workforce skill challenges at Kyndryl
- [13:51] Defining company culture and values
- [16:45] Reducing and restructuring the workforce
- [24:58] Improving employee redeployment rates
- [31:05] Tackling vended labor challenges
- [38:21] Managing skills across job families
- [42:49] Finding allies in unexpected departments
- [52:10] Improving Kyndryl resource planning
- [53:02] Future workforce tracking challenges
Building a Culture First, Systems Second
While it may be tempting for HR to leap into systems and processes, Maryjo insists that everything should begin with culture and purpose. Kyndryl first articulated the culture they wanted to be by conducting research with customers and employees to distill the company’s values. These values of kinship, growth, restlessness, empathy, and devotion to shared success shaped the Kyndryl way and anchored every subsequent transformation, from talent architecture to performance management.
Shaping the Workforce with Skills Data—Not Just Headcount
Maryjo describes her central CHRO responsibility as keeping as many people employed as possible through responsible enterprise stewardship. That means managing the direct workforce and aggressively addressing contractor and vended labor. Instead of allowing easy backdoor entry for outsourced services when headcount was reduced, Kyndryl prioritized retraining and reallocating internal employees—a strategy that cut the vended workforce by 50% and drove up redeployment to nearly 80%.
Critical to this approach was creating a unifying global job architecture and skills taxonomy, merging inventory across employees, contractors, and service vendors. This required overcoming system fragmentation and forging new alliances with procurement, IT, and legal to track all labor, however it came in, and create transparency across all workstreams.
From Data Layers to Business Impact
While a single-pane-of-glass HR system was the dream for Maryjo, the reality meant integrating financial, HR, procurement, and vendor management systems and building semantic layers that could track, reconcile, and translate skill data at scale. No single software suite could do it all, so success depended on building partnerships with IT and developing custom layers, predictive tools, and AI agents for matching talent to customer needs.
Kyndryl anchored its use of AI in solving real business and customer problems rather than tracking individual productivity. The most important thing is to have someone ready to go with the skills that the customer needs to do that piece of work.
Resources & People Mentioned
- https://eightfold.ai/
- https://www.skyhive.com/
- https://www.techwolf.ai/
- https://www.workday.com/
- https://www.rbl.net/about-us/our-people/dave-ulrich
Connect with Guest Name
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryjocharbonnier
Connect With RedThread Research
- Website: https://redthreadresearch.com/
- On https://www.linkedin.com/company/redthread-research/
Subscribe to https://pod.link/1554931884
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8 LUG 2026 · Artificial intelligence is transforming not just our workplaces, but the very nature of education and professional development. Our guest this week, Michael Noble, Vice President of Academic Program Development at Western Governors University (WGU), shares his views on how higher education can rise to the current moment, bridging the gap between academic learning, employable skills, and the changing needs of the workforce. We also dig into how WGU’s innovative approach might become a template for organizations and educational institutions navigating the AI era.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...
- [00:00] Upskilling entry-level talent with AI
- [03:59] Integrating liberal arts with tech skills
- [09:34] Discussing higher education trends
- [15:36] Creating personalized skill-based curriculums
- [26:13] Leveraging WGU's alumni network
- [29:14] Challenges in employee development
- [31:43] Impact of AI on job training
- [35:17] Integrating philosophy into the curriculum
- [48:40] Specialization vs. flexibility
- [55:28] Finding fulfillment through creative work
From Degree to Competency
Higher education is experiencing a moment of reckoning around its relevance for today's job market. Traditional models have long focused on grades and credit hours, but WGU centers its model on competency-based education. Students demonstrate mastery of validated competencies—skills verified through rigorous assessment, rather than simply accumulating classroom hours or participation credits. This approach better aligns with employer demands, emphasizing what learners can actually do rather than what they have passively experienced.
WGU’s adaptability has enabled it to cater to working adults seeking career advancement, and to students entering directly from high school, who now make up over 40% of its enrollment. By focusing on practical skills and direct assessment, WGU is closing the gap between academic learning and the immediate needs of employers, allowing for more individualized and efficient upskilling.
The Power and Challenge of University-Corporate Partnerships
With AI and automation taking over many entry-level tasks, companies and universities face a new imperative: how do we prepare new hires for roles that require immediate impact and advanced judgment, skipping the traditional ramp-up provided by routine tasks? We discuss WGU’s partnerships with companies like CVS Health, where tailored programs help pharmacy techs advance within the organization and are supported by real-time competency and skills data.
Internships, micro-internships, and simulated externships emerged as critical solutions for giving students hands-on, relevant experience. Aligning incentives between corporations seeking skilled workers and universities eager to prove their graduates’ real-world readiness could radically reshape how both sectors approach workforce entry.
AI as a Catalyst for Change in Learning and Development
AI isn’t just changing what skills are needed, but how learning itself happens. WGU is embracing AI-native tools—virtual assistants for students, personalized learning feedback, and AI-assisted evaluation—to both scale quality learning and support the work of instructors and curriculum developers.
This technological shift is also transforming the structure of learning and development teams. Specialists are becoming “augmented generalists,” using AI tools to speed up design, delivery, and personalization, but the need for deep expertise and sound judgment remains crucial. Just because something looks polished doesn’t mean it’s fully accurate or effective.
Recognizing that many students lack the networking advantages of elite institutions, WGU is using its growing alumni network, piloting programs that help students connect with industry veterans, and offering achievement “wallets” to showcase their skills and experiences—key ingredients in leveling the playing field for career advancement.
Resources & People Mentioned
- https://www.wgu.edu/about/governance/president.html
- https://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/contact/0033600001rcq9iAAA/bryan-alexander
- https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/biographyginsburg.aspx
- https://themip.org/
Connect with Michael Noble
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelnoble/
Connect With RedThread Research
- Website: https://redthreadresearch.com/
- On https://www.linkedin.com/company/redthread-research/
Trascritto
24 GIU 2026 · Learning and Development (L&D) is at a crossroads. As artificial intelligence (AI) accelerates changes in the workplace, L&D’s traditional stronghold—the creation and curation of content—is rapidly losing its strategic value. In this episode, I discuss the rapidly evolving intersection of AI and Learning & Development (L&D) with Don Taylor and Egla Vinauskaite. Our conversation explores how the AI “on ramp” has disappeared, leaving many L&D organizations feeling left behind, and highlights the importance of direction, not just decision, for real transformation.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...
- [05:56] Early years of AI in L&D
- [08:16] Adapting to AI in Industry
- [18:44] Technological turmoil and AI evolution
- [20:29] Challenges in transforming organizations
- [25:40] Decision-making and organizational hierarchy
- [28:59] Importance of fieldwork and presence
- [37:42] Understanding Drag in L and D
- [46:49] Role of a Leader in Change
- [53:40] Activating independent organizational growth
The Vanishing ‘On-Ramp’ and the Challenge of Catching Up
The rapid evolution of AI in the workplace has created a new sense of urgency for L&D teams. In 2023, everyone was at the same starting line, experimenting with generative AI tools for the first time. Now, the landscape has shifted dramatically, with advanced conversations moving toward AI agents and full-scale workforce transformation. Those who didn’t jump on the AI bandwagon early are finding it increasingly difficult to catch up, with the “on-ramp” to entry effectively gone for newcomers. This sense of inaccessibility is causing some people to self-select out of L&D entirely, feeling left behind by the accelerating pace of change.
The Disappearing Content Moat
For years, L&D has built its identity around its expertise in content creation—the so-called “moat” that protects its value. But the rise of AI has reduced the barriers to creating effective learning content. Anyone can now create quality resources with minimal expertise, eroding the unique advantage L&D once held. Content can no longer be the cornerstone of L&D’s strategy. Instead, L&D needs to determine its new value proposition in a world where content is ubiquitous.
The Transformation Triangle
The Transformation Triangle proposes three potential futures for L&D organizations.
Skills Authority: Organizations that pursue this path become the go-to stewards for everything related to skills in the business—tracking what skills exist, what’s needed, and how to develop them. They treat skills as a critical business asset and ensure the organization stays competitive by closing gaps efficiently.
Enablement Partner: Acting as connectors rather than creators, these organizations focus on surfacing, amplifying, and distributing the expertise already embedded within the workforce. Their role is to ensure knowledge flows efficiently where it’s needed to elevate performance organization-wide.
Adaptation Engine: The most transformative model, these teams see themselves as stewards of organizational adaptability. They diagnose and address performance issues as complex systems problems—sometimes solving them through learning, but often intervening through process or tool changes to maximize business impact.
None of these are final destinations—organizations may move between them, combine elements, or adapt over time.
Overcoming Structural, Cultural, and Capability Drag
Achieving escape velocity from the gravitational pull of content-focused L&D isn’t easy. In the conversation, we identify three types of “drag” that hold teams back:
- Structural drag: Where L&D sits in the org chart and its direct authority.
- Cultural drag: Long-standing perceptions of L&D’s role as content creators.
- Capability drag: Skills and mindsets required to operate in new, more impactful ways.
Successfully overcoming these drags and embedding new models into systems and infrastructure. ensures changes stick even as leaders come and go.
Resources & People Mentioned
- https://www.learningtechnologies.co.uk/speakers/donald-h-taylor
- https://code.claude.com/
- https://claude.com/product/cowork
- https://copilot.microsoft.com/
- https://www.nodes.works/newsletter
- https://donaldhtaylor.co.uk/research_base/global-sentiment-survey-2025/
Connect with Don Taylor & Egle Vinauskaite
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinauskaite/
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldhtaylor/
Connect With RedThread Research
- Website: https://redthreadresearch.com/
- On https://www.linkedin.com/company/redthread-research/
Subscribe to https://pod.link/1554931884
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10 GIU 2026 · Organizational change is now a constant rather than a phase. Few stories illustrate this better than Hearst Networks’ journey, as shared by Dean Possenniskie, CEO, and Lucy King, Chief People Officer, on this episode of Workplace Stories. Moving from a legacy cable business into a diversified, higher-margin media powerhouse, Hearst proves that reinvention is possible not just for startups but for well-established companies with deep roots and long histories.
Hearst, an organization with a legacy and heritage, and a willingness to continually reinvent itself, has adopted the “phoenix” metaphor to frame its transformation. They’ve made hard choices, like closing brands, exiting joint ventures, and even shutting offices, before expanding into new partnerships with giants like Sky, Amazon, Apple, and YouTube.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...
- [07:59] Working in HR during transformations
- [12:36] Transitioning to full Hearst ownership
- [18:29] Crafting a purpose statement
- [21:12] Why it pays to implement a coaching mindset
- [25:30] Investing in learning and development
- [32:11] Defining company values and culture
- [37:08] Improving profitability and growth focus
- [39:16] Valuing autonomy and trust at Hearst
- [44:15] Encouraging innovation company-wide
- [47:14] Balancing governance with creative autonomy
Culture at the Core
Culture is often seen as a soft layer, a set of values on a wall, or the flavor of the latest offsite. Dean Possenniskie and Lucy King see it differently: culture had to be the engine of transformation, integral to performance and strategy. One of Dean’s earliest moves was to reposition the people and culture function away from finance, placing it directly alongside the CEO—a signal of culture’s importance as a business driver.
The results speak for themselves. While revenues declined 20%, margins grew by more than 40%, and internal workplace surveys saw “great place to work” scores leap from 53% to over 80%. This wasn’t about being “nice,” but about creating a place where people could do their best work, take risks, and feel empowered.
Building Change Muscle
A core tenet of Hearst’s approach to transformation was empowerment at every level. Lucy describes removing archaic performance systems and replacing them with coaching-centered one-to-ones, helping managers foster a sense of ownership, capability, and resilience in their teams. The organization invested in professional coaching for anyone, at any level, who requested it, a significant commitment, but one tailored for maximum impact rather than blanket sameness.
This was complemented with mentoring, leveraging technology to link senior leaders with mentees across the company. This “bottom-up” ethos even shaped their AI and technology adoption: rather than mandating tools from the top, creative, programming, and scheduling teams were given room to experiment and bring forward the solutions that actually worked for them.
The Power of Purpose and the “Deal”
Change is unsettling, and ambiguity can erode trust. To anchor their people, the leadership spent months articulating a purpose statement—a north star for decision-making and daily work. More boldly, they introduced “our deal,” a written two-way document explaining not just what the company expected from employees, but what employees could expect in return: support, development, and clear direction.
Dean describes this as adult-to-adult relationship building. It’s about empowering personal leadership and ownership, backed by transparent communication—even when delivering hard messages or acknowledging failures. As they say, “we learn fast, not fail fast.”
Resources & People Mentioned
- https://www.hearst.com/about
- https://www.amazon.com/Leave-Something-Table-Surprising-Business/dp/1982114150
- https://www.amazon.com/Problem-Change-Essential-Nature-Performance-ebook/
- https://insights.starlingtrust.com/content/compendium/peer-perspectives-organizational-culture-is-caught-not-taught
- https://www.ynharari.com/book/sapiens/
Connect with Lucy King and Dean Possenniskie
- https://www.hearstnetworks.com/leadership/lucy-king
- https://www.hearstnetworks.com/leadership/dean-possenniskie
Connect With Red Thread Research
- Website: https://redthreadresearch.com/
- On https://www.linkedin.com/company/redthread-research/
- On https://www.facebook.com/redthreadresearch
- On https://twitter.com/redthreadre
Subscribe to https://pod.link/1554931884
Trascritto
27 MAG 2026 · This week on the podcast, we welcome Heather Stefanski, Chief Learning and Development Officer at McKinsey & Company. We explore how organizations like McKinsey are reimagining employee development for the age of AI, shifting learning into the flow of work, focusing on systems and purposeful apprenticeships, and embedding L&D directly into workflow design. You'll also hear all about the evolving skill sets for L&D teams and the importance of updating how we measure development.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...
- 00:00 Integrating development into AI assistants
- 04:49 Heather's role at McKinsey
- 08:32 Developing skills in the workplace
- 16:08 Designing developmental workflows with AI
- 24:56 Understanding skill proficiency levels
- 26:25 Building agentic development solutions
- 30:53 Assessing AI proficiency levels
- 33:18 Future skills focus at McKinsey
- 42:55 AI in performance evaluations
- 53:13 Using AI for feedback and review
Rethinking Language: Why Development Surpasses Training
One of the first shifts Heather Stefanski identifies is a deliberate move away from talking about “training” or even just “learning.” Instead, McKinsey centers its L&D strategy on development, a more holistic approach that encompasses formal programs, feedback mechanisms, leadership modeling, and real-time experiences in the flow of work.
For McKinsey, development is inseparable from business outcomes, and employee development is critical to the firm’s value proposition. This means McKinsey designs work intentionally to be developmental, combining upskilling, leadership building, and project experiences into a seamless ecosystem.
Purposeful Apprenticeship
Heather discusses embedding rituals, such as performance check-ins and feedback sessions, directly into core workflows to build a system grounded in purposeful practices. By standardizing these rituals, McKinsey can even quantify the impact of great teachers on advancement, and L&D becomes part of organizational culture rather than a siloed function.The New Learning Tech Stack
One of the most exciting transformations is McKinsey’s ongoing work to blend learning seamlessly into technology-enabled workflows. Rather than relying solely on traditional LMS platforms, McKinsey is embedding learning designers into business teams that are building agentic workflows—AI-powered systems that guide, prompt, and provide real-time feedback as employees work.
AI agents are being designed to do more than just increase productivity. Heather emphasizes that agents should also foster professional development by challenging users, prompting reflective questions, and offering immediate coaching. This shift pushes L&D professionals to evolve their skills, requiring fluency not just in instructional design but in data analysis and collaborative workflow engineering.
What Skills Do Employees Still Need?
As AI tools automate routine tasks, think aligning PowerPoint columns or data cleanup, McKinsey is strategically deciding what to stop teaching, redirecting focus to what keeps the firm distinctive: problem solving, judgment, metacognition, systems thinking, and authentic leadership. Purposeful abandonment of now-obsolete skills is as vital as doubling down on those that matter, ensuring development keeps pace with the shifting demands of knowledge work.
Resources & People Mentioned
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisachristensen/
- https://www.mckinsey.com
- https://cursor.com/
- https://thelearningforum.org/clo-lift
Connect with Heather Stefanski
- https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/heather-stefanski
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatherstefanski/
Connect With RedThread Research
- Website: https://redthreadresearch.com/
- On https://www.linkedin.com/company/redthread-research/
Subscribe to https://pod.link/1554931884
Trascritto
13 MAG 2026 · Frontline workers form the massive, beating heart of the global workforce, constituting up to 80% of all employees. But their enablement, experience, and upward mobility often remain quietly neglected. We sit down with J.D. Dillon, author of the upcoming Frontline Enablement Playbook, to dissect the persistent challenges these vital employees face and explore how organizations can better support and empower the often-overlooked deskless workforce.
We discuss why frontline managers are structurally trapped, JD breaks down a hierarchy of frontline worker needs, and shares more about the essential role of connection—over traditional training—and why genuinely understanding, not "othering," frontline experiences is key to meaningful change.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...
- [00:00] How organizations support their managers
- [12:08] Understanding the frontline workforce
- [28:42] Improving employee retention strategies
- [36:39] Measuring impact on frontline work
- [40:33] Inviting in frontline employee feedback
- [48:40] Challenges faced by frontline managers
- [52:10] Supporting new managers effectively
- [57:07] AI tools for frontline employees
Understanding the Structural Trap for Frontline Managers
Managers are often tasked with driving outcomes, hitting KPIs, retaining staff, and resolving customer complaints, but can be denied the resources or authority necessary to actually effect change. Everything in organizations is pushed through managers, but the visibility and empowerment of frontline managers is substantially less than that of their corporate peers, making both their influence and recognition of their struggles far more limited. This leads to a burned-out, under-supported middle layer that directly impacts both employee engagement and business performance.
Connection Over Content
Traditional strategies for improving frontline performance tend to default to more training or pressuring managers to be the catch-all for corporate initiatives. But this approach is not just incomplete—it may even be counterproductive. Instead of overloading managers with binders and leadership development modules, organizations should focus on fostering connection—especially enabling peer connections among frontline managers at different locations. Meaningful conversations, mentoring, and crowdsourced problem-solving trump content-driven learning. Managers, after all, best learn from each other’s lived realities, not generic directives.
The Hierarchy of Frontline Needs
At the core of Dillon’s framework is a hierarchy of needs for frontline workers:
- Livelihood – The basic requirement: fair pay and benefits, recognizing that for many, work is first and foremost about economic necessity.
- Stability – Reliable schedules, clear policies, and the ability to plan life around work.
- Community – A sense of belonging and connection with coworkers; the knowledge that one’s immediate work environment isn’t built around corporate KPIs, but relationships.
- Culture and Purpose – The “top” of the pyramid: tying individual roles to broader organizational purpose and values.
Organizations often leap to culture-focused initiatives while neglecting the foundational layers. Without addressing pay, scheduling, and daily support first, those higher-order efforts rarely stick.
Tensions, Trade-offs, and Small-Scale Change
Frontline management must constantly navigate tensions such as being tasked with outcomes but denied the necessary authority, being pushed to develop staff but overwhelmed by daily operational issues, and being measured by metrics that don’t always reflect lived realities. JD believes that these tensions don’t have simple solutions; they have to be navigated, not "fixed".
Large-scale, top-down changes are rare. Instead, incremental improvements, like investing in small process shifts, removing single pain points for managers, or fostering peer communities, can create real traction every shift. “Every shift counts, small shifts matter,” according to JD.
Resources & People Mentioned
- https://www.amazon.com/dp/1562869868
- https://a.co/d/0hkqmKyp
Connect with Guest Name
- https://jddillon.com/
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/jddillon
Connect With Red Thread Research
- Website: https://redthreadresearch.com/
- On https://www.linkedin.com/company/redthread-research/
- On https://www.facebook.com/redthreadresearch
- On https://twitter.com/redthreadre
Subscribe to https://pod.link/1554931884
Workplace Stories is a podcast for HR and people leaders who are tired of noise and need clarity that actually holds up. It is hosted by Stacia Garr and Dani...
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Workplace Stories is a podcast for HR and people leaders who are tired of noise and need clarity that actually holds up. It is hosted by Stacia Garr and Dani Johnson of RedThread Research.
Each episode features candid conversations with practitioners, thinkers, and executives who are navigating real decisions inside complex organizations. Not hypotheticals. Not vendor promises. Real tradeoffs, real experiments, and real lessons learned along the way.
You’ll hear how leaders are making sense of skills, AI, organizational design, and culture when there’s no clear playbook and pressure to show progress is high. The focus is always the same: what’s actually working, what isn’t, and what leaders are doing next.
Workplace Stories helps you make sense of complexity, build credibility with evidence, and move from ideas to action with more confidence.
Want to be part of the conversation? Join our community for free and connect with others shaping the future of work.
Learn more about RedThread Research here: https://redthreadresearch.com/home
mostra meno
Each episode features candid conversations with practitioners, thinkers, and executives who are navigating real decisions inside complex organizations. Not hypotheticals. Not vendor promises. Real tradeoffs, real experiments, and real lessons learned along the way.
You’ll hear how leaders are making sense of skills, AI, organizational design, and culture when there’s no clear playbook and pressure to show progress is high. The focus is always the same: what’s actually working, what isn’t, and what leaders are doing next.
Workplace Stories helps you make sense of complexity, build credibility with evidence, and move from ideas to action with more confidence.
Want to be part of the conversation? Join our community for free and connect with others shaping the future of work.
Learn more about RedThread Research here: https://redthreadresearch.com/home
Informazioni
| Autore | Stacia Garr & Dani Johnson |
| Organizzazione | Stacia Garr |
| Categorie | Gestione |
| Sito | redthreadresearch.com |
| hello@redthreadresearch.com |
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