Surveying the L&D Landscape

Learning and Development Manager with Erin Orchard

In this episode, I chat with Erin Orchard to learn about her job as the Learning and Development Manager at Alyeska Pipeline Service Company based in Anchorage, Alaska.
 
During our conversation, we unpack:
How offering emotional intelligence training helps make the connection between mindfulness and safety to support safety consciousness across the organization;
Supporting leadership development through a variety of programming, including the Breakthrough Leadership Workshop;
Creating learning and development within a highly regulated field with lots of compliance requirements while also fostering a culture of learning and growth;
AND MORE!
 
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Erin Orchard is the Learning and Development Manager at Alyeska Pipeline Service Company based in Anchorage, Alaska. She oversees the regulatory, compliance, technical and non-technical training for workers of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System. In addition to training, Erin’s team onboards, coaches, and develops employees. She holds a BA in Psychology and International Studies from the University of Denver and an MS in Management and Leadership from Pepperdine University. Outside of work Erin chairs the Pioneer Leadership Program Alumni Association and the Alaska chapter of the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership organization. 
 
 
WANT MORE OF ERIN?
Connect with her on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/erinorchard/

Head of L&D and OD with Sabina Sulat

In this episode, I chat with Sabina Sulat to analyze her former roles as Head of L&D and OD, which she held in three different organizations.
During the conversation, we discuss:
How learning leaders are the heartbeat of the organization;
Why L&D and OD go so well together;
What it means to be a learning organization AND how to ask questions to assess the extent to which a company values learning!
ABOUT SABINA:
Sabina Sulat is an accomplished Talent Management professional with over 15 years of experience in the L&D field and a master’s degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology.  Sabina is a three-time Head of Learning & Development and OD, Sabina has worked for multiple national and global organizations including BlueCross BlueShield, CPA Global, the federal government, the UNHCR, The George Washington University, and AstraZeneca. She consults on topics including HR policy and procedures, job skills and competencies, learning and development, diversity and inclusion and compliance.
Sabina is also the author of the book and host of the podcast Agile Unemployment, where she helps folks recently unemployed navigate the complicated path of returning to work. 
 
WANT MORE OF SABINA?
Catch her on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/sabinasulat. 
Learn more about her work Re: Working at www.reworkingworks.com/
Purchase the book: Agile Unemployment. 
Listen to her podcast: Agile Unemployment 
 
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Talent Review: 
https://www.sigmaassessmentsystems.com/9-box-grid/
 
https://www.aihr.com/blog/9-box-grid/
 
https://cezannehr.com/hr-blog/2021/06/what-is-a-9-box-grid/
https://www.td.org/insights/using-talent-reviews-as-a-strategic-partner 
The Five Disfunctions of a Team
https://www.tablegroup.com/topics-and-resources/teamwork-5-dysfunctions/
 

Director of Coaching with Phillip Migyanko

In this episode, I sit down with Phillip Mgyanko to analyze his role as Director of Director of Coaching at Happen to Your Career.
During our conversation, we dive into all things coaching and try to pinpoint where it fits within the landscape of learning and development.
We talk about:
Consistency as the biggest factor in a client’s success;
The skills required to hold space for someone, actively listen, and ask questions to uncover what’s holding them back achieving their goals;
How coaching programs can be enhanced by good learning resources;
AND how more organizations are prioritizing their employees’ career development journeys!
 
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Phillip is on a mission to help individuals find and prioritize meaningful work. Growing up on a landfill (literally), he got his start at his family's landfill business until they sold it in 2014. Later he began working in multiple HR and Recruiting roles within the technology and manufacturing spaces, as well as working for one of the leading jobs boards in the United States. He is currently the Director of Coaching at Happen to Your Career, an organization designed to help individuals find work they love, and spends his time building career development programs, leading the company's coaching team, and individually coaching over 2,000 clients.  He has extensive knowledge of the career change process and working 1:1 with executive coaching clients.
WANT MORE OF PHILLIP?
Find him on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/phillipmigyanko/ and/or follow him Twitter @pmigyanko
 
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
StrengthsFinder: CliftonStrengths Online Talent Assessment | EN - Gallup
HighFive: Free Strengths Test | Find Your Character Traits & Personality Types (high5test.com)
Crucial Conversations: Crucial Learning- Crucial Conversations
Happen to Your Career: Book: Happen To Your Career - Happen To Your Career
 

Learning Experience Design Consultant with Lena Nasiakou

In this episode, I explore the world of Learning Experience Design and Embodied Learning with Lena Nasiakou as we analyze her role as a Learning Experience Design Consultant.
During our conversation, we unpack:
What learning experience design really is and how it differs from instructional design;
Some of the principles of effective adult education in corporate settings;
How experience design gets people into their bodies and experiences, tapping into all three intelligence centers (thinking, feeling, doing) to drive behavior change;
AND how imposter syndrome is more of a phenomenon that takes place than a clinical diagnosis -- it’s worth reframing the term!
 
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Lena Nasiakou is an L&D Consultant, Experience Designer, Trainer from the Netherlands, and the founder of Lena’s Moves As a trusted L&D partner for large organizations, Lena’s Moves co-creates non boring learning solutions that engage learners, drive sustainable behavior change and close performance gaps. 🎈 Having created non-boring learning experiences for more than 8 years for companies like Netflix, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Trivium Packaging, and Quantis, Lena continues to discover the learning is more experiential than it is knowledge based and aims to shift that mindset in her work. Lena holds a master’s degree in Adult Learning and is on a mission to bring embodiment to the learning process across organizations.
 
WHAT MORE OF LENA?
Connect with her on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lenanasiakouembodiedlearning/
Explore her work and services: www.lenasmoves.com/
 
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
The Next Right Thing podcast with Emily P. Freeman: The Enneagram and Decision-Making
What is The Kirkpatrick Model? / Kirkpatrick (kirkpatrickpartners.com)
L&D Shakers LinkedIn Community

Senior Employee and Organizational Development Consultant with Seana Nuñez

In this episode, I chat with Seana Nuñez to analyze her job as Employee and Organizational Development Consultant at the University of California, Riverside.
During our conversation, Seana outlines what it takes to be a great facilitator, including: 
The tasks involved in facilitating a workshop or program;
The way that a facilitator shows up to set the stage and create a safe space for growth;
The emotional work and difficult conversations that may sometimes be necessary for facilitating "soft" skill type development programs;
AND SO MUCH MORE!
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Seana has over 15 years of experience in training, facilitation, organizational development and consulting.  She works with staff across all levels at UC Riverside, and with leaders across the UC System.  She manages various leadership programs, and facilitates professional and personal development classes.  Seana holds a Master of Science degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, and is certified to administer various personality and behavior assessments.
 
WANT MORE OF SEANA? Catch her on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/smnunez/

Sr. Director of Global Documentation with Ryan Nicholson

In this episode, I sit down with Ryan Nicholson to analyze his role as Senior Director of Global Documentation at Bullhorn.
In our conversation, we discuss:
The art of storytelling as a key skill of a trainer;
How knowledge management processes are critical to effective technical training;
How part of the challenge around AI is teaching literacy skills, the ability to decipher what ChatGPT content is accurate and what “good” really looks like;
AND MORE!
 
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Ryan Nicholson is a strategic and results-driven leader with significant experience working for values-driven, agile, and growing technology companies. He champions change management initiatives, designs strategic product roadmaps, develops innovative support programs, and inspires teams to deliver with excellence. As Senior Director of Global Documentation for Bullhorn, he is building a comprehensive training and documentation department that delivers results for the organization. Ryan is a Navy veteran and a DEI advocate who founded several employee groups and speaks at prestigious conferences. In his free time, he enjoys rowing, tinkering with gadgets, and photography.
 
WANT MORE OF RYAN?
Connect with him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ryannicholson01/

Talent Development Manager with Maura Lemon

In this episode, I chat with Maura Lemon about her role as Talent Development Manager at Admore Home Design, Inc.
During our conversation, we discuss:
How she gets to be a talent architect for her company, having a hand in both talent acquisition and development;
How she looks for RAD talent as a recruiter – talent with evidence of Resilience, Adaptability, and Drive – and strives to be one herself;
How personality assessments are a great start for leadership development AND can be followed up with ongoing coaching conversations;
AND MORE!
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Maura Lemon is a corporate educator and Pepperdine MBA passionate about helping organizations increase their competitive advantage through premier talent development strategies. During her 10+ years with the Walt Disney company, she coached talent and facilitated corporate training both domestically and around the globe. Maura aligns staff development goals with organizational business goals, leveraging her broad experience in product manufacturing, recruiting, and the professional services industries. Her agile learning approach delivers on the promise to develop transformative talent to meet the needs her clients now and in the future. Prior to earning her MBA at Pepperdine University, Maura was awarded a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Massachusetts - Amherst. She has lead talent development initiatives at Disney, Lee Hecht Harrison, and other top-tier organizations. 
WANT MORE OF MAURA?
Connect with her on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/maura-lemon/
 

Sr. Director of Client Experience - Academies with Jen Collins

In this episode, I chat with Jen Collins about her role as Senior Director of Client Experience - Academies at Degreed.
While unpacking her role, we break down:
The benefits of Academies, especially the social learning components
Behavior change as the end goal of both Marketing & L&D
How being a strategic partner often involves reframing a “no” to an offer of alternative solutions
AND SO MUCH MORE!
ABOUT THE GUEST: 
Jen Collins is a learning strategist, consultant, speaker, and facilitator with a passion for talent development, in particular, skill-specific learning programs and academies. Today, she is Sr. Director of Client Experience - Academies at Degreed. She has consulted and facilitated learning experiences on a variety of topics for all levels of employees across B2B and B2C businesses, drawing on her combined experience in L&D and marketing to understand learner motivations and drive engagement. Jen has over 20 years of Marketing and Business Management experience, with a focus on talent development for the past five years. She lives at the Lake of the Ozarks and outside of work, Jen volunteers as an Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) and Fire Fighter for her local fire department.
 
WANT MORE OF JEN?
Connect with her on LinkedIn at: www.linkedin.com/in/learningwithjen/
 

Organizational Development Consultant with Gloria Song

In this episode, I sit down with Gloria Song to learn more about an L&D adjacent field – Organizational Development (OD).
In our discussion, Gloria breaks down the work she does as Organizational Development consultant, the intersections between L&D and OD, and what cross-over skills she’s leveraged throughout her career.
If you’re wanting to better understand techniques for facilitating change in an organization, this is a good one for you.
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Gloria Song is a coach, consultant, founder, L&D leader, and OD leader. She’s held roles at major companies including Microsoft and Autodesk, where she’s coached employees, and created and facilitated learning programs globally. Gloria holds a master’s degree in human systems intervention and currently works as an Organizational Development practitioner at her company Co-Change Lab Inc, where she is on a mission to help people and organizations create the positive change they envision.
WANT MORE OF GLORIA:
Connect with her on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gloria-song-ma-acc-cpcc-24135159/ 
Explore the services she offers: cochangelab.com
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Want more resources on how OD and L&D and even IO Psych tie together or where they fit in the landscape? Check out these articles:
Training, L&D, OD, HRD -- What's in a name? by Sean O'Toole (2010) published in Australian Journal of Adult Learning. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ952242.pdf
The Link Between Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Organization Development, & Change Management by Steve Ngyuen, PhD (2016) posted on Workplace Psychology. https://www.workplacepsychology.net/post/link-between-industrial-organizational-psychology-organization-development-and-change-management

Senior Program Manager with Emma Strong

Today, we're surveying Emma Strong's Senior Program Manager job at Veritext Legal Solutions. 
During our conversation, we discuss:
The transferrable skills she brought to the table from her years in higher education;
The metrics she uses to measure the success of her onboarding programs;
How industry specific knowledge isn’t a necessity for landing an L&D role but the ability to leverage SMEs to learn it and build learning experiences around it will always be;
AND MORE!
ABOUT THE GUEST:
 After working in higher education for 7 years, she transitioned into her role in corporate L&D about 2 years ago. Since then, Emma has designed and implemented a company-wide onboarding program, developed eLearning courses, and facilitated train-the-trainer sessions. She is currently working on a leadership development program with the goal of enhancing managers' capabilities in onboarding their new hires. Emma leads with creativity, care, and collaboration, and sees herself as a problem-solver. 
WANT MORE OF EMMA?
Connect with her on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmadstrong/
Get resume review support at https://www.strong-edits.com/.
 
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Join Sarah Cannistra's L&D Career Club at:
https://www.theovernighttrainer.com/ldcc
Join Andy Storch's Talent Development Think Tank community through my referral link: https://tdtt_abby--tdf.thrivecart.com/tdtt-community-subscription/