Operational problems aren’t going anywhere; they’re growing. How can leaders keep loyal talent motivated when the dreaded skills gap keeps evolving? Juggling employee development and making a profit, while also doing good is no easy task. Yael Kaufmann, co-founder, and COO of LearnIn, Bob Chapman, CEO of Barry Wehmiller – a manufacturing company – and Stacy Cline, Senior Director of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability at GoDaddy are with us to share their perspectives on how they’re facing these issues head-on. 

Key Takeaways:

[2:14] As companies look to be able to fill gaps in their talent needs, they also struggle in a lot of ways to be able to deliver on what it is they are trying to achieve.

[2:31] We can view automation as an opportunity to give employees greater purpose by emphasizing their individual talents and sense of belonging.

[3:20] The great opportunity of technology is to help us do more with less and then invest in actually doing more.

[4:21] There is more seriousness for companies to take action when it comes to topics like diversity and inclusion and climate change, rather than for them to just talk about it.

[7:29] How may our approach to reskilling be holding us back?

[8:20] The rate at which jobs are changing from menial tasks to more interesting knowledge work is exploding. We may not need to look to outside workers, but rather give the people who are already in your organization, and have a ton of amazing knowledge, the skills they need.

[9:24] If you want to be more inclusive and offer benefits, you have to be thinking about some of those barriers that may already be holding people back.

[12:33] Toyota is a great example of listening to the people doing the work, instead of letting them go just to lean things out.

[14:00] Any tech we bring into the mix has to be set up to align with our corporate social and environmental responsibilities.

[19:33] Governance and oversight can take up a lot of resources, so pairing with a vendor who specializes in learning about your customer in a secure way is going to be a game-changer in the future.

[19:28] You don’t need to necessarily be two steps ahead at every point in time, but having thought about it already at that point in time enables you to pull the trigger when the time is right.

[21:24] When GoDaddy began ramping up its environmental efforts, Stacy was cataloging the environmental and social issues most important to its stakeholders. She talks about the process as a constant conversation, and one that must be able to shift as the conversation of the world takes a different shape and tone.

Quotes:

• [1:57] “You are not going to be able to fire and hire your way to having all the skills you need for the future of work.” - Yael
• [2:31] “We can view automation as an opportunity to give employees greater purpose by emphasizing their individual talents and sense of belonging.” - Bob
• [2:40] “I think if you can, embrace automation as progress and allow each of us to use our gifts more and challenge us more to grow.” - Bob
• [3:29] “The great opportunity of technology to help you do more with less and then invest the Delta in actually doing more with more.” - Yael
• [4:55] “Companies need to be talking about their greenhouse gas emissions, what they're emitting and how they are working to combat climate change. They need to be talking about what they're actually doing from a diversity and inclusion lens, and not just saying that they care about diversity, and inclusion, but actually showing proof of what they're doing internally and externally on this. So there's been more seriousness around these topics, and not just hearing companies say words, but showing the proof and showing the data on what they're actually doing.” - Stacy
• [14:00] “Any tech we bring into the mix has to be set up to align with our corporate social and environmental responsibilities.” - Francis
• [19:33]  “Pairing with a vendor who specializes in learning about your customer in a secure way, is going to be a game-changer for many. But we also have to keep in mind that just because one solution is right for you now, it might not be right for you tomorrow.” - Francis

Continue on your journey:

• pega.com/podcast

Mentioned:

• Stacy Cline
• GoDaddy
• Bob Chapman
• Barry Wehmiller
• Yael Kaufmann
• LearnIn