The Talent Development Hot Seat

Have you been told to increase employee performance through annual evaluations and yet are still struggling to get results? Discover the power of inclusive cultures and revolutionary workplace strategies to propel employees to their highest potential.From this episode, you will be able to:Embrace diverse workplace environments for heightened employee performance.Shift from traditional performance evaluations to state-of-the-art developmental tactics.Promote a culture of fearlessness and originality to spark innovation.Cultivate an environment where employees feel secure in embarking on new personal growth journeys.Integrate ongoing feedback, expert guidance, and continuous learning opportunities for staff members.Angela Stopper is the Chief Learning Officer at UC Berkeley, where she leads the team responsible for campus-wide workforce education programs, career and professional development initiatives, and organization development and change management consulting services. With a background in Marketing and I

Matt Sigelman and Trena Minudri break down the 2023 Burning Glass Skills Compass Report. Yet, there is an unexpected twist - Matt and Trena found that no skill met all three criteria of value, endurance, and quick learning. What could this reveal about the importance of making informed choices and trade-offs?In this episode, you will be able to:Harness the power of data to pinpoint vital future workforce talents.Uncover the hidden potential of adaptive skills amidst ever-changing technologies.Master the art of continuous learning to hone efficient learning abilities.Embrace a growth mindset for seamless internal mobility and upskilling.Take charge of your career by emphasizing personal skill development.Matt Sigelman is a renowned expert in the field of labor market data and skills analysis, with a passion for unlocking new opportunities through understanding the evolving world of work. As the President of the Burning Glass Institute, Chairman of LightCast, and a visiting Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School,

With a curiosity for understanding why humans are inherently social creatures, I never expected to find myself leading a thriving community, uncovering the power of connection to drive success and growth - but that's exactly what I did. Now, as I continue to foster these relationships, I'm reminded of the incredible potential that comes from embracing our strengths and working together.In this episode, you will be able to: 1. Cultivate thriving communities that boost workplace engagement and foster growth. 2. Establish genuine connections that enhance a sense of belonging within organizations. 3. Promote an inclusive, equal, and collaborative company culture for all team members. 4. Exhibit effective leadership in crafting hyper-inclusive and engaged communities. 5. Utilize communication channels to develop open and trusting work environments.Connect with Andy Storch here:WebsiteLinkedInJoin us in the Talent Development Think Tank Community!

In the 388th episode of the Talent Development Think Tank Podcast, Andy connects with Jorge Aisa Dreyfus. Jorge is the EVP of Talent Capability and Culture at Sage. As a tactical and knowledgeable leader, he takes ownership of his role at Sage as he sees a fantastic opportunity to support their exciting transformation into a great Digital Network company. Jorge is a talented and strong leader capable of building and executing human capital offerings that make a difference. He is said to be able to create meaningful leadership and stakeholder development programs that contribute to the success of many business and functional units. In this bonus episode, you will hear: Jorge Aisa Dreyfus’ biggest achievement and proudest moment in his career;One of Jorge’s biggest failures and what he learned from that experience;The three things that Jorge believes to be the biggest challenges in the talent development space;Why Jorge is following Artificial Intelligence as an interesting trend in talent develo

In the 387th episode of the Talent Development Think Tank Podcast, Andy connects with Jorge Aisa Dreyfus. Jorge is the EVP of Talent Capability and Culture at Sage. As a tactical and knowledgeable leader, he takes ownership of his role at Sage as he sees a fantastic opportunity to support their exciting transformation into a great Digital Network company. Jorge is a talented and strong leader capable of building and executing human capital offerings that make a difference. He is said to have the ability to create meaningful leadership and stakeholder development programs that contribute to the success of many business and functional units. In this episode, you will hear: Jorge’s background in life and how he got roped into the world of talent development;What Jorge sees to be the commonalities in the learning curve of people across different industries;Why Jorge and Andy see curiosity as a top priority for companies to be doing to ensure connectivity and success across people in the business;Jo

In Episode 386 of the Talent Development Think Tank Podcast, Andy Storch is joined by Don Jones from Experience It. Don is the founding president of Experience It Inc. Over the past 30 years, he has achieved a reputation as one of the foremost designers of sophisticated, story-driven behavioral management and leadership business simulations. Don is an accomplished consultant, researcher, speaker, and author. His organization has designed, delivered, and implemented large-scale corporate experiential learning programs for multinational Fortune 500 companies in more than 20 countries.Don is a recognized thought leader in the workplace's importance in human behaviors. His white paper Human Systems 2.0 makes a case for the increasing importance of the need for human connection as the workplace becomes increasingly digital and technological. In addition, his Contextual Intelligence Transformation Model™ has also been adopted by a number of corporations.In this bonus episode, you’ll hear:Don’s proudest accomplishme

In Episode 385 of the Talent Development Think Tank Podcast, Andy Storch is joined by Don Jones from Experience It. Don is the founding president of Experience It Inc. Over the past 30 years, he has achieved a reputation as one of the foremost designers of sophisticated, story-driven behavioral management and leadership business simulations. Don is an accomplished consultant, researcher, speaker, and author. His organization has designed, delivered, and implemented large-scale corporate experiential learning programs for multinational Fortune 500 companies in more than 20 countries.Don is a recognized thought leader in the workplace's importance in human behaviors. His white paper Human Systems 2.0 makes a case for the increasing importance of the need for human connection as the workplace becomes increasingly digital and technological. In addition, his Contextual Intelligence Transformation Model™ has also been adopted by a number of corporations.In this episode, you will hear: Andy Storch and Don Jones

Teddy Droseros joins Andy Storch as a guest on the 382nd episode of the Talent Development Think Tank Podcast. Teddy is the founder of Grateful Peoples and he created a Gratitude Journal that is being used for a few social initiatives. Thousands of kids and schools around the country are starting their day with one of these journals and writing down something they’re grateful for every day. In 2018, Teddy, along with a few local businesses, A’Pizza Regionale, Original Grain, and O Yoga (now Sky Yoga Studios), came up with an idea to raise money through various promotions to donate gratitude journals to all the students at a local elementary school in Syracuse. Today, those journals have amassed tens of thousands of entries, some of which are part of a new book called "Today I Am Grateful For…In this bonus episode, you will hear: Teddy Droseros’ biggest achievement and proudest moment in his career.One of Teddy’s biggest failures and what he learned from that experience.What Teddy sees as the biggest

Teddy Droseros joins Andy Storch as a guest on the 382nd episode of the Talent Development Think Tank Podcast. Teddy is the founder of Grateful Peoples and he created a Gratitude Journal that is being used for a few social initiatives. Thousands of kids and schools around the country are starting their day with one of these journals and writing down something they’re grateful for every day. In 2018, Teddy, along with a few local businesses, A’Pizza Regionale, Original Grain, and O Yoga (now Sky Yoga Studios), came up with an idea to raise money through various promotions to donate gratitude journals to all the students at a local elementary school in Syracuse. Today, those journals have amassed tens of thousands of entries, some of which are part of a new book called "Today I Am Grateful For…In this episode, you will hear: How the story of Teddy Droseros started and the difficulties he braved prior to the launch of the Gratitude JournalsHow gratitude helped Teddy in coping with what he was going through.

Andy Storch welcomes Jen Collins to the 381st Episode of the Talent Development Think Tank Podcast. Jen is a Learning Strategist, Consultant, Speaker, and Facilitator with a passion for Talent Development. She helps organizations and professionals upskill their teams at scale with Internal Talent Academies and helps them drive engagement by leveraging marketing principles. With 20 years of Marketing and Business Management experience and a concentration in Learning and Development over the past five years, Jen has tackled a variety of Talent Development experiences over my tenure, including but not limited to: leading and supporting skill-specific learning programs, managing culture initiatives and ongoing pulse surveys, creating employee resource groups (ERGs), managing new hire onboarding experiences, and many more. Today, Jen is working as the Senior Director for Client Experience - Academies at Learn In. In this bonus episode, you’ll hear:Jen Collins’ shift from marketing to Learning & Devel

Andy Storch welcomes Jen Collins to the 380th Episode of the Talent Development Think Tank Podcast. Jen is a Learning Strategist, Consultant, Speaker, and Facilitator with a passion for Talent Development. She helps organizations and professionals upskill their teams at scale with Internal Talent Academies and helps them drive engagement by leveraging marketing principles. With 20 years of Marketing and Business Management experience and a concentration in Learning and Development over the past five years, Jen has tackled a variety of Talent Development experiences over her tenure, including but not limited to: leading and supporting skill-specific learning programs, managing culture initiatives and ongoing pulse surveys, creating employee resource groups (ERGs), managing new hire onboarding experiences, and many more. Today, Jen is working as the Senior Director for Client Experience - Academies at Learn In. In this episode, you will hear: Jen Collins’ marketing and entrepreneurial background

Episode 379 of the Talent Development Think Tank Podcast welcomes Sam Worobec to the stage. Sam has over 15 years of experience in developing talent at scale across various industries. He has a proven track record of creating robust talent pipelines. Furthermore, his expertise ranges from developing talent for world-famous brands to portfolio holding companies, covering industries such as banking, telecommunications, energy, and food service. Growing up with a blue-collar work ethic and a passion for both the arts and business, Sam has found in himself a unique combination of creativity, work ethic, and business savvy. Leveraging technology to enable organizations, upskilling current workforces, training-as-recruiting, and growing future leaders are his specialty. Now, Sam Worobec serves as the Vice President of Learning & Development of Red Ventures.In this bonus episode, you’ll hear:Sam Worobec’s biggest career accomplishment.Sam's biggest failure and what he learned from this experience.The bigges

Did you miss the Think Tank Conference but still want to be caught up on the trends and learnings that emerged? The topics discussed ranged from building an inclusive culture to leveraging social media to build a personal brand to designing the future of learning . I recap the conference in this episode of the Talent Development Think Tank podcast!Resources:Join the Think Tank Community! Own Your Career Own Your Life Book & Resources Meals in the MeantimeConnect with me: InstagramFacebookTwitterLinkedIn

Episode 378 of the Talent Development Think Tank Podcast welcomes Sam Worobec to the stage. Sam has over 15 years of experience in developing talent at scale across various industries. He has a proven track record of creating robust talent pipelines. Furthermore, his expertise ranges from developing talent for world-famous brands to portfolio holding companies, covering industries such as banking, telecommunications, energy, and food service. Growing up with a blue-collar work ethic and a passion for both the arts and business, Sam has found in himself a unique combination of creativity, work ethic, and business savvy. Leveraging technology to enable organizations, upskilling current workforces, training-as-recruiting, and growing future leaders are his specialty. Now, Sam Worobec serves as the Vice President of Learning & Development of Red Ventures.In this episode, you will hear: Sam Worobec’s explanation of the background of Red Ventures as a portfolio company with several brands across indus

This week, Andy is joined by Dr. Martha Acosta on The Talent Development Hot Seat. Martha is an internationally regarded expert in safety leadership, working with organizations such as the National Safety Council, Safety Canada, and the National Association for EHS&S Management. She is also a Senior Moderator in Harvard Business School's Corporate Learning division and has been a learning and development consultant supporting governments and global corporations for over a quarter century. She holds leadership positions on nonprofit Boards of Directors.Martha earned a doctorate in Human and Organizational Learning from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and an MBA in Organizational Behavior from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.In this bonus episode, you’ll hear:6. Dr. Martha Acosta’s pride in learning to see herself as a leader and how that changed the trajectory of her career.7. How being an introvert and intellectual caused her difficulty when she began leading teams and

This week, Andy is joined by Dr. Martha Acosta on The Talent Development Think Tank Podcast. Martha is an internationally regarded expert in safety leadership, working with organizations such as the National Safety Council, Safety Canada, and the National Association for EHS&S Management. She is also a Senior Moderator in Harvard Business School's Corporate Learning division and has been a learning and development consultant supporting governments and global corporations for over a quarter century. She holds leadership positions on nonprofit Boards of Directors.Martha earned a doctorate in Human and Organizational Learning from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and an MBA in Organizational Behavior from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.In this episode, you’ll hear:Martha’s background in training and development and how she pivoted her career to focus on safety at work.Why culture has a significant impact on safety, and some common challenges organizations face that need t

On the 374th episode of the Talent Development Hot Seat Podcast, Andy Storch welcomes Jennifer Brown to the stage. Jennifer Brown is a globally recognized DEI thought leader, highly sought-after speaker, award-winning entrepreneur, and best-selling author. She envisions inclusive organizations where all of us can thrive. As someone who has experienced both the advantages of privilege and the sting of stigma, Jennifer is boldly redefining what it means to truly belong—in the workplace, in our families, and in our communities.  She openly shares her powerful and unforgettable true story with audiences to help us challenge our assumptions—about ourselves, about leaders, and others—and take meaningful action today for a more inclusive tomorrow.Jennifer has shared her thought leadership at corporations including Google, The Hartford, Hearst, IBM, Indeed, Intel, KFC Global (Yum! Brands), Liberty Mutual, LinkedIn, McDermott Will & Emery LLP, Medtronic, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Prudential, PSE

In this episode, Andy is welcoming Rachel Druckenmiller to The Talent Development Think Tank Podast. Rachel is the CEO of UNMUTED, a training and development company, and she’s on a mission to ignite resilience, connection, engagement, and compassion in organizations, leaders, and teams. She is a national thought leader in the employee engagement and wellbeing field and was recently recognized by The Daily Record as one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women of 2022 and a Forbes Next1000 honoree in 2021. Additionally, Rachel was recognized as the #1 Health Promotion Professional in the U.S. by the Wellness Council of America in 2015 and a 40 Under 40 Game Changer in 2019.In this bonus episode, you’ll hear:Rachel Druckenmiller’s proudest career moment.Her biggest career failure and what she learned from that experience.The biggest challenge she sees right now in the talent development space.Why she’s following the trend of prioritizing connection over content.The three books she recommends reading that sent her on a jour

In this episode, Andy is welcoming Rachel Druckenmiller to The Talent Development Think Tank Podcast. Rachel is the CEO of UNMUTED, a training and development company, and she’s on a mission to ignite resilience, connection, engagement, and compassion in organizations, leaders, and teams. She is a national thought leader in the employee engagement and wellbeing field and was recently recognized by The Daily Record as one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women of 2022 and a Forbes Next1000 honoree in 2021. Additionally, Rachel was recognized as the #1 Health Promotion Professional in the U.S. by the Wellness Council of America in 2015 and a 40 Under 40 Game Changer in 2019.In this episode, you’ll hear:Rachel Druckenmiller’s experiences as a timid child with perfectionist tendencies and the journey that transformed her into an unmuted version of herself today.Why your worth isn’t tied to your work and how competing commitments can prevent you from pursuing your goals.What organizations can do to help their employees avoid

On the 370th episode of the Talent Development Think Tank Podcast with Andy Storch, we welcome Larry McAlister for the third time. Larry is a strategic, energetic, inspirational, and visionary senior leader. He is consistently sought after as a thought leader in the HR space, both internally and externally and he was named in the Top 50 Human Resources Professional Award by OnConferences in January 2021.Over his career, Larry has built highly effective talent acquisition and enablement strategies and development programs. Larry is known for his exceptional ability to work with cross-functional leaders and silo bust throughout organizations.Currently, Larry is the Vice President of Global Talent at NetApp. He is transforming how NetApp thinks about talent with resilience, curiosity, and a growth mindset. He is leading a digital transformation of the HR functions, leveraging powerful technology to introduce an internal talent marketplace. Larry believes in leading with authenticity and creating a place where Ne