“AI functionality will narrow skills pool down to very specific human and leadership behaviors that can’t necessarily be replaced by AI or taught by AI,” said Jessie Osborne, VP of Global Learning and Development, at AML RightSource.

In an exclusive interview with HR.com, Jessie shares insights on data analytics and its role in improving business decisions. She also touches upon emerging learning technologies poised to make an impact in the future and outlines a learning strategy for 2025, among other topics.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q: How extensively do you leverage learning data to identify skills gaps within your organization?

Jessie: Daily.

We built a strategy in the past year that rested on our ability to demonstrate metrics for all learning we deliver and to help us make decisions on what learning we deliver. As an organization, we have been consistently moving in this direction over the past few years. But this year was different, we decided to go all in on shifting how we approach learning and being 100% data-driven is how we will work going forward.

Q: How do you apply the insights gained from your analyses of learning data?

Jessie: The first thing we do with learning data is make business decisions. It helps us have meaningful conversations with other department leaders and decision-makers, on what teams, processes and, populations we should be prioritizing. It also helps us make decisions on talent markets we want to make an impact in to be successful.

Learning data collected from 17 different countries gives us those options. How we divide our resources is essential to how successful we are at aligning with our organizational goals and strategies. I can’t be applying a rogue strategy to L+D that isn’t in step with what we are trying to achieve as a company.

Q: Which emerging technologies do you believe will shape the future of enterprise learning?

Jessie: It will come as no surprise that AI will have a huge impact on content development and even reduce the number of skills we are trying to scale in talent pools across the globe. AI functionality will narrow that skills pool down to very specific human and leadership behaviors that can’t necessarily be replaced by AI or taught by AI.

Q: What adjustments have you made to your learning strategy in 2024?

Jessie: In addition to measuring all learning, we have changed the way we conduct transactional exchanges with the partners we support. To achieve our target of creating consistent metric-driven support, we had to edit how we engage; meaning when we had intake meetings, a manager would notice a particular skill was missing within her team, then we would ask a completely different set of questions than we did two years ago.

Previously, we asked questions like: What level of that skill do you need employees to be at? How and when would you like the training delivered? Now, we ask questions like: How do know that skill is missing? Did you measure for it? What baseline are they at, and what baseline do you need to be at? How will we measure if we were successful at increasing that skill? How do we tie that metric to a business goal?

It is very difficult in an L&D department to think quantitatively and measure performance and effectiveness. So, you have to get creative and work on a deeper level with your organizational partners to understand how the skills you are teaching drive your business forward.

Q: How have these adjustments influenced your employees' development trajectories?

Jessie: It’s made L&D leaders more dangerous. They now speak about business goals and have a seat at the numbers table. It’s given them a pathway to perform, and gain buy-in from stakeholders.

For employees in the business, it’s given them resume builders and value propositions that they can speak to as they grow their careers. Now, they didn’t just ‘complete a manager training program’. They, ‘completed a manager training program that increased their ability to ramp up new clients in 50% of the time, resulting in increased business and decreased their team’s turnover by improving their ability to manage performance and utilize engagement activities’.

Q: What additional changes do you anticipate implementing in 2025?

Jessie: Adding more ‘sandbox space’ that will allow employees to practice their skills in a safe environment. Increasing customized training for high-impact clients. Reformulating training styles and outputs to meet the cultural outcomes expected by clients. Manager+ accountability to development.

Q: Do you plan to add any new capabilities to your learning management system (LMS)?

Jessie: Yes! We just added a language gym from GoFluent. We are also adding automated career pathways based on promotion and role.


 
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