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TMBS E127: VP & CPO, IBM Public Cloud

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Tucson Business Radio
Tucson Business Radio
TMBS E127: VP & CPO, IBM Public Cloud
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In a recent survey from IBM, nearly 30% of U.S. consumers noted that despite the pandemic, they are planning to visit a store before year-end and expect to see new precautions in place, such as enforced social distancing. And while 28% of consumers have shopped online for curbside pickup during the pandemic, another 19% plan to continue shopping this way even after the pandemic is over – signifying a long-term trend. 

About Aki: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/akilesh-aki-v-duvvur-0672a42/ 

Aki Duvvur, Vice President & Chief Product Officer, IBM Public Cloud 

Aki Duvvur has held various leadership positions within IBM’s Cloud organization since January 2010. Roles have included: VP Cloud & Cognitive, North America, Cloud Platform for North America, Cloud Innovation and Enablement, Global Cloud Strategy, and Integration Executive for the SoftLayer Acquisition. Aki’s current role is as VP & CPO, IBM Public Cloud. 

 Prior to joining the IBM Cloud team, he was Acquisition Executive for IBM’s Novus and Softek acquisitions and Business Leader in North-East Europe based in Zurich. Prior to IBM’s acquisition of Novus, Aki was CTO for Novus Consulting Group.  

 Aki holds a patent for “method and system for determining a management complexity factor for delivering services in an environment” (United States 7979513) – issued July 12, 2011. 

 His education includes a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota. 

 

Greg Dyer with Randstad US

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Greg-Dyer-Randstad-US
Atlanta Business Radio
Greg Dyer with Randstad US
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OnPay-Banner

Greg-Dyer-Randstad-USGreg Dyer leads Randstad’s in-house services concept and enterprise strategic accounts team, where he is responsible for strategic commercial sales, client delivery and account management for many of Randstad’s largest, most complex clients.

Greg oversees a team of strategic account directors and in-house leaders and has a proven track record of establishing solid go-to-market strategies, setting and communicating clear vision and goals, and executing and delivering outstanding results in terms of growth and profitability.

Under Greg’s leadership, Randstad has significantly improved its strategic client delivery and fulfillment in many client staffing programs.

Connect with Greg on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • What Randstad US is seeing from an HR/staffing perspective in Atlanta as the state enters a critical period for the labor market

About Our Sponsor

OnPay’sOnPay-Dots payroll services and HR software give you more time to focus on what’s most important. Rated “Excellent” by PC Magazine, we make it easy to pay employees fast, we automate all payroll taxes, and we even keep all your HR and benefits organized and compliant.

Our award-winning customer service includes an accuracy guarantee, deep integrations with popular accounting software, and we’ll even enter all your employee information for you — whether you have five employees or 500. Take a closer look to see all the ways we can save you time and money in the back office.

Follow OnPay on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Jenn T. Grace with Publish Your Purpose Press

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Jenn-T-Grace-Publish-Your-Purpose-Press
GWBC Radio
Jenn T. Grace with Publish Your Purpose Press
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Jenn-T-Grace-Publish-Your-Purpose-PressJenn T. Grace is a nationally recognized business strategist, speaker, and author. Guided by the mantra, “Change happens in business,” Jenn believes social change happens first in the workplace before spilling over into mainstream society. She has been featured in Forbes, The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and CNBC.

Jenn passionately believes the more raw and real we can be—the deeper the connections we can experience. This drives her fierce commitment to bring voice to the invisible stories that free people from their isolation.

She is committed to giving underrepresented voices power and a stage to share their stories, speak their truth, and impact their communities. She is the Founder of Publish Your Purpose Press, a publishing company that includes the PYP Academy, with programs that teach aspiring authors how to publish their books. In addition to publishing 60+ books that share the stories of others, Jenn has written six, including her memoir, House on Fire (September 2020).

A marathon runner, animal lover, and novice birder. She lives in Connecticut with her family.

Connect with Jenn on LinkedIn and follow Publish Your Purpose Press on Facebook and Twitter.

About GWBC

The Greater Women’s Business Council (GWBC®) is at the forefront of redefining women business enterprises (WBEs). An increasing focus on supplier diversity means major corporations are viewing our WBEs as innovative, flexible and competitive solutions. The number of women-owned businesses is rising to reflect an increasingly diverse consumer base of women making a majority of buying decision for herself, her family and her business. GWBC-Logo

GWBC® has partnered with dozens of major companies who are committed to providing a sustainable foundation through our guiding principles to bring education, training and the standardization of national certification to women businesses in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

BRX Pro Tip: True North

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Todd Riesterer with LogicMonitor

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Todd-Riesterer-LogicMonitor
Learning Insights
Todd Riesterer with LogicMonitor
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LogicMonitor-logoTodd-Riesterer-LogicMonitor

Todd Riesterer, Chief People Officer at LogicMonitor, has devoted his career to helping leading-edge technology companies scale their business by curating high performance growth cultures.

He has led large global human resources teams for iconic software companies such as VMware, McAfee, Business Objects, and Cadence Design Systems, while more recently taking the Chief People Officer helm at emerging, hyper-growth companies like Kony.

He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His roots are in Wisconsin proudly wearing the “Cheesehead” banner. He and his wife of many years have three children and a daughter-in-law.

They enjoy boating, being rabid fans of their favorite teams, and participating in all of the fine music and culture Austin has to offer.

Connect with Todd on LinkedIn.

Transcript

Intro: [00:00:01] Broadcasting live from Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for Learning Insights, featuring learning professionals improving performance to drive business results.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:15] Lee Kantor here. Another episode of Learning Insights Radio. And this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, TrainingPros. Without them, we could not be sharing these stories. Today on Learning Insights, we have Todd Riesterer with LogicMonitor. Welcome, Todd.

Todd Riesterer: [00:00:32] Thank you. Glad to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:34] Well, before we get too far into things, tell us about LogicMonitor. How are you serving folks?

Todd Riesterer: [00:00:40] So, we are high-growth, hypergrowth actually, cloud-based IT infrastructure monitoring company with an observability platform. So, that’s the official language, but putting it into HR persons’ terms, we help IT teams get awesome visibility and insight into their infrastructure, so they can tell other systems are working and how they can improve them.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:05] So, now, talk about your role as Chief People Officer.

Todd Riesterer: [00:01:11] Yes. So, I lead all of our global people operations around the globe. And we’ve got a couple of different categories. We’ve got the acquisition, talent acquisition machine, where we are bringing in some of the best and brightest. And we’ve got the areas where we are retaining folks, and engaging them, enabling to do their best work from a learning, and development, and comp, and benefits and rewards. And then, we’ve got workplace experience and diversity initiatives to kind of round out all the areas that help us make the people successful in their careers.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:47] So, now, in this kind of a pandemic climate, how has that impacted your role?

Todd Riesterer: [00:01:53] I mean, it’s pretty crazy. They don’t teach this in college and, certainly, something I haven’t experienced in the many years I’ve been doing this. And probably the craziest part was, I think, like almost all companies, technology companies, we kind of made a decision to send everybody to work from home around the globe in nine different countries and offices around the world with about a five-day notice. And so, how do people do their jobs? How do you keep a culture going?  Here we are, nine months later, and still kind of going at it. I mean, it just turned the world on end.

Todd Riesterer: [00:02:29] And so, everything, we kind of figured about how do you engage with your teams and how people engage and do their work had to change overnight. And it has just been fascinating. What a cool thing to see how adaptable and how much perseverance our teams have really to say … use the word agile in product development, I would say our team has proven to be very agile during these times.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:54] And resilient. I mean, a lot of these folks are juggling a lot of things when you say, all of a sudden, now, your home is also your workplace. That’s tough for a lot of people.

Todd Riesterer: [00:03:07] Yeah. And for many years now in the HR community, there’s this word of bringing your whole person to work. And I like to use the word personal-professional harmony. I think it better explains versus work-life balance, which is kind of a traditional term. And it just brought it to the forefront immediately. And the level of empathy, and understanding, and kind of having it forced upon every person in the company, when you see into the senior leaders and the places they work, and you see kids and dogs in the background through every person in the organization, I think that’s been one of the real challenges for people is how you keep a personal-professional harmony alive and well. But to have companies really take a major step forward, understanding and supporting it, it’s certainly here in LM, it’s been something that everyone is proud about and excited about.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:57] Now, you mentioned culture early on. And culture is one of those things. If you’re not intentional and mindful about it, it’s going to form anyway, so you might as well put some effort into it. What are some of the things that LM does in order to kind of have the culture that you’re proud of?

Todd Riesterer: [00:04:15] So, I agree with what you said. I believe wholeheartedly that I would say kind of name and claim it. You’ve got to be purposeful if you want to put your stamp on it because, otherwise, it’ll be very ad hoc and continually evolve and change. It can feel very different in different parts of the organization in the world. And I’ve done this now at a couple of companies. When I joined, I sit down with a great number of people who have been great performers and have been around for a while, and I asked the simple question, why did you come and why did you stay?

Todd Riesterer: [00:04:51] And with that, as well as interviewing the executives, what we want in a company, we put together a kind of three-slide culture story with the headline about who our people are, our values underpinning to it all, and then the different pillars that people highlighted about the few reasons why the best and brightest have come and and chosen to stay. So, we’ve got a really good story that kind of knits everything that we do together around building this, very purposeful about our culture.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:23] So, what are some of the highlights of that story?

Todd Riesterer: [00:05:26] Sure. So, the lead story is that we call our employees LMers. And the definition is a group of brilliant innovators fiercely advancing the future by IT. And that was just the theme that stood out more than anything else as I talked to some of the people who are, again, proven performers, have been around, “Why’d you come?” They’re about innovation, and leading-edge products, and changing an industry. And that’s what we’re doing. So, that’s the headline.

Todd Riesterer: [00:05:54] Our three values that kind of underpin it all are one team, better every day, and customer-obsessed. And I think they’re really cool. I’ve seen most companies, many I’ve been involved, have five, six, seven, eight values. These three serve the purpose and can be really powerful. Everybody remembers them. We weave them into everything we do.

Todd Riesterer: [00:06:14] And then, the five specific pillars that people would call out about what they really like about our culture, and what keeps them here and keeps them on the right path are the people, being around other very smart, passionate people. I believe an iron sharpens iron. And so, that’s a really big reason people stay is they like the tribe they go to work with. Purpose, the purpose we’re up to, again, changing the IT industry. Our product, I alluded that earlier, just truly kind of tip of the spear from a technology perspective. Learning and growth is the fourth one. When you hire best and brightest people who are up to big things in life, we’re on our toes in HR to have to be making sure we’re offering learning opportunities. And then, the last one is shared success. So, we are a pre-IPO company, and we continually are advancing the rewards and recognition to every employee. LMers got stock. So, that’s also a big draw for people. So, that’s the story. In every program we roll out and keep falls into one of these categories.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:18] So, now, you talked about kind of getting better every day. And I’m a big believer in this kind of compounding of little gains over time. How do you measure that though? Because it can be so small and incremental but it’s difficult to measure.

Todd Riesterer: [00:07:34] Yeah. Well, I truly believe in we believe that if you want to, you can only expect what you inspect. So, measurements and data are everything. And I also agree with you that the small wins are the way you kind of build big victories. So, what we’ve done is I take that on two fronts. One is on each individual LMers front, we’re measuring near-term, short-term successes and progress. And then, the company’s front. And obviously, the company will be a result of each LMer every day getting better and accomplishing more.

Todd Riesterer: [00:08:10] So, one of the things we did is we tore out of the annual performance appraisal. It just really doesn’t serve any good. If the company only had to show up once a year and worry about what our results are like, maybe that would be okay. But guess what? We report to boards of directors every quarter and, really, every month, we are measuring things. So, it only makes sense that employees and LMers would be measuring their progress.

Todd Riesterer: [00:08:34] So, we have what we call LMRPs, LMer Readiness Plans. And they are a tool and a forum for every LMer. It’s kind of their contract with their manager about what their goals are, both on a professional basis, doing their job, how they’re doing it better, and a development basis. So, LMRPs are the kind of scorecard of managers. And each LMer, weekly one-on-ones, they’re tracking how they’re doing against the performance goals they’ve got and the development goals. And they both can put comments in there. And it’s kind of taking the Agile, as they talked about earlier, process down to each individual LMer level.

Todd Riesterer: [00:09:13] By the time you get to the end of the year, you’ve got a whole year’s worth of of progress kind of tracked throughout the year. You can add goals, you can delete them, you can close them off. So, it’s really a powerful way to track a day-in, day-out, week-in, week-out progress. And we do the same thing with the company. We’ve got a company scorecard. We report up to the full company once a month on how we’re doing against the key metrics. And then, certainly, every quarter, there’s a more formal report out. So, I think the two really do work well hand in hand, and as you said, help the small wins stack up to big victories over the long run.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:51] Now, how are you guys handling kind of diversity and inclusion? Everybody kind of gives lip service, at least, to diversity and that’s what we strive for. Is there anything in place that is kind of specifically geared towards attracting a more diverse workforce?

Todd Riesterer: [00:10:10] Yeah, it’s obviously kind of a big buzz for a lot of companies. We take great pride in that. We’ve had a culture that’s really built on creating a diverse place that’s respectful of everyone’s beliefs and who they are. But this year, it was a good impetus for us to really look at what we’re doing. And once again, become more purposeful, become more strategic, and get aligned on how we’re really ensuring that our workplace is a place that moves the needle and is a place that we’ve got very diverse thinking. I absolutely believe and we’ve always believed here that successful companies don’t just major in diversity, and equality and inclusion because it’s the right thing, which it is, and also because it is what drives business results.

Todd Riesterer: [00:11:07] And what we did when we got more purposeful, we kind of decided we’re going to go at this in two ways. One is empowering our LMers to kind of move the needle. So, we’ve got learning opportunities, ongoing education, unconscious bias training, we’re bringing outside speakers, we have community groups, many community groups that people can participate in with their peers, race issues, to have a dialogue, people of color is one, Women at LM is another, and Pride is the third. Those are three of our big ones, including LM Care Philanthropy group. So, there’s about three or four that we have about 30%, about a third of our LMers are actively involved in. And so, that’s the first branch is empowering our LMers to learn, participate and impact change.

Todd Riesterer: [00:11:55] Then, the second one is what can we, as a company, do to create opportunity for underrepresented groups who are battling equality? So, what we’ve done there is on the recruiting front, in addition to, of course, trying to become a workplace that is very comfortable, and respectful, and inclusive that people of all different underrepresented groups want to work at, we also decided that technology as a whole needs a significant number of increased people coming into the workforce from these underrepresented groups.

Todd Riesterer: [00:12:30] So, we’ve partnered with Code College, an awesome organization based in Austin, that introduces high school students actually from underrepresented groups, really specifically people of color, as well as women, into technology careers very early. And Internxt is an intern program that Vista, our owners, have introduced. And we have a significant number of interns that we brought on through them and we convert to full-time. So, both empowering LMers to make a difference in their communities and their day-in day-lives and the company itself creating opportunities.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:05] Well, kudos to you, because a lot of hypergrowth companies just don’t kind of make the time to invest in those underrepresented groups like that. And hats off because that’s important, and you’re role-modeling that behavior for other up and coming hypergrowth companies that is possible and it’s worth doing.

Todd Riesterer: [00:13:30] Yeah, well, thank you for that. And again, I do think we’re values-based company. Vista, certainly, our owners, are extremely big in in creating opportunities, and our executive team is. And I would just say, again, that we 100% believe it is what helps drive value in an organization. So, we do it because it’s the right thing and because a diverse workforce is a key enabler to business success.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:58] So, now, any advice for the young people out there, maybe your potential employees, like what should they be doing to get on your radar, to get kind of plugged into your world, and kind of join your team?

Todd Riesterer: [00:14:11] Yes. So, certainly, obviously, be looking for our website and other places that we post jobs. And if we don’t have a job posted, people can apply and make contact with their talent acquisition team. We are always out proactively trying to make conversations and build networks of of talented people from all levels of experience and walks of life. So, I would say that’s number one. And be keeping up to date on our industry and our website. We just had a big product release. Understand what this infrastructure monitoring space looks like and how it’s evolving. It’s a fast-moving, one of the most exciting places in technology to be working right now. So, stay up to date on that.

Todd Riesterer: [00:14:59] And then, the two things that we kind of use as a moniker on here about what we look for is skill and will. Skill and will. It’s got a nice ring to it and it happens to work. So, I’d encourage everybody to think about what skills are you building, what are you adding to your repertoire that you can offer to a company around learning about technology, learning about whatever your area of focus is. If it’s HR, or if it’s engineering, or marketing, keep adding to your skills, take classes, go to seminars. And then, will, display in your personal life and, certainly, in your professional life going above and beyond and the desire to be passionately making yourself better. If you keep doing those things and reach out to us, I’m sure there’s a fit because we are scaling and growing our workforce by about a third every year.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:51] So, now, how has this kind of work-from-home environment and this remote environment impacted the way that you onboard somebody, and then kind of immerse them in your culture?

Todd Riesterer: [00:16:05] Yeah, it’s a great question because as you might imagine, we can all guess, it’s a real challenge. And I think we’ve known for years or centuries that people learn best and gain energy and commitment when they are physically in communication stronger, when we’re face to face with each other and with each other physically. So, can you remove that? On the spur of the moment back in March, feels like way back when, you kind of have to rethink all of that. So, certainly, using tools and technology as everybody else. Zoom and Slack has been really key for us. And we run different courses. Day-long sessions aren’t going to make it. You can’t expect somebody to be on Zoom for a day. So, you put the learnings into more bite-sized pieces and kind of scatter them up through the first couple of weeks.

Todd Riesterer: [00:17:06] And you have to intersperse. And we’ve gotten very creative with online kind of games and events to have people socialize with each other and get to know each other more. And it really has been, again, I’d say, a much more purposeful kind of bite-size pieces of different events, and learning, and training curriculum, and much more conversational like we’re doing here versus everybody showing up the first two days on the job, and in a big classroom, and going through one PowerPoint slide after another. So, in some ways, it’s a better way to really kind of get somebody indoctrinated. But I tell you, we still are missing the human-to-human contact and the energy that comes from that.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:49] Now, have you figured out a way to kind of replicate some of the look-over-your-shoulder or be-a-fly-on-the-wall-in-a-room while something else is happening, and then going back and debriefing, and creating those kind of serendipitous learning opportunities?

Todd Riesterer: [00:18:07] Yeah, it’s a real challenge for sure. And again, I’d say we go back and use the tools and technology that exist. And we do use Zoom conference calls, and some teams kind of stay on them for extended periods of time as they’re going through to kind of shadows, as I think you’re alluding to, somebody else. We use phone technology when we’ve got people making customer calls and new people coming in who are doing business development or sales to be able to kind of patch in with more experienced folks who are leading the charge.

Todd Riesterer: [00:18:43] And then, we’re better at doing kind of perception debriefs. So, normally, you kind of have a learning session, and people go on, and maybe you would have them fill out a survey, how helpful was that? Once again, we have to kind of schedule a half hour or more and talk through after a learning session or somebody shadowing and purposely ask them, “What did you learn? What were the key things that you observed? And how are you going to bring that back and make yourself better?”

Todd Riesterer: [00:19:14] So, again, I just say – and this is I think a positive – is being more planful in really thinking through how best people learn and how we can try to replicate that versus the easier route, in some ways, is just showing up and, “Hey, go sit by Sally, go sit by Jim, and watch what they’re doing,” and hope there’s some osmosis that goes on.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:36] Right. You have to be more intentional and you have to just keep having conversations. I mean, I think this is actually creating more conversations because you have to. You have to do it on purpose. You can’t just run into them and think, “Oh, I’ll get to it later.” Like you have to schedule it and make it happen.

Todd Riesterer: [00:19:56] Yeah, that’s exactly right. And I think we went through an evolution there too. Everybody went home, kind of turned on a dime. And so, then, we quickly figured out we need to schedule a whole bunch of this dialogue, and everybody is showing up to everything. And then, losing track of time here, a little bit a month or six weeks, I’m like, “Okay, there’s definitely Zoom overload at this point.” And so, then, we kind of had to settle in and figure out which sessions tend to work best for the times and how much time can people really spend on Zoom versus being off camera and doing their work.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:33] Right, yeah. I think we’re all kind of learning together in this. Now, for you, what’s the most rewarding part of the job?

Todd Riesterer: [00:20:44] Ultimately, I get really excited about two things. Certainly, I won’t try to age myself here, but I’m in the second half of my career. And when I’ve gotten to kind of this position, it becomes much less about what how to advance my career and what’s the next big mountain to climb. Personally, what gets me really excited, and it’s a lot of fun, is really pretty simple, and that’s company success and other employees’ success. I love showing up every day and being part of a bigger cause, and everybody does, and having a company that knows how to kind of measure customer satisfaction as customer obsession is very real here. And customers continuing to buy more, which they do every day. Do they like what we put out? And are we creating new products? Like a big rollout we just had yesterday of our logs. And what are customers saying about that? And are we meeting our financial metrics? So, watching that in and a company our size be able to pinpoint, “Yeah, myself and my team, we played a part in that. Big or small, we played a part in that.”

Todd Riesterer: [00:21:59] And then, the other piece is I’ve been fortunate to feel good about the success I’ve had in my career and accomplish a lot of my goals. I really enjoy helping other people. And that’s what keeps me energized in HR. I mean, in some ways, I’m kind of doing the same thing as I did the first days I started in HR in the beginning of my career, but to see new people that you meet at every company and in every department, and create career paths, and learning opportunities, and promotions, and recognition for people, it’s really fulfilling to have a part in being an HR professional. And kind of my own team’s career success and advancement, as well as those in other parts of the business.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:44] Now, as the chief people officer, I’m sure you’ve impacted lots of people in your career. Can you share a story maybe that you were working with somebody, maybe mentoring somebody, and you were able to help them get to the next level?

Todd Riesterer: [00:22:59] Yeah. I, certainly, wouldn’t put names out there, but for much of my career, I spent and was living in Silicon Valley and working in larger companies that were kind of becoming even larger than that. In about six years ago, I took a turn and started working at some pre-IPO more emerging companies. I like to stay where the clay is still soft on culture. And if they don’t show up every day, you matter. And so, the pivot for me, at that point, amongst many pivot’s going from big company, all these resources, a bunch of very seasoned, experienced people around the globe to going to an earlier stage company where there’s a lot more junior folks coming in who, every day, were kind of learning, it forced me to pivot too and have to kind of go back to my roots in the early days.

Todd Riesterer: [00:23:51] And there’s a couple of folks … and I would just use the term again, I really looked for skill and will the potential, the ability, the problem-solving ability, and the skills of knowing their craft, and then the desire to do better things and constantly learn. And there’s been a couple of folks now that have worked for me at a couple of different companies and tried to give them opportunities beyond maybe what their experience level would have dictated they were able to do. Have kind of gone out of my way to bridge geographical divides with folks. And if somebody somebody’s sitting in Europe, give them global jobs, somebody in India that was on the team I led that we gave a global job to, and that kind of worked on projects or had responsibility outside of of her own country.

Todd Riesterer: [00:24:45] And it’s just really, really exciting to see, and it’s kind of giving me a resurgence in life to go back to a team that is more in the early stages of their career, where every day is a learning opportunity, and to try to figure out. It’s probably one of the biggest parts of my job is how can I help them stretch and gain experiences beyond what their experience would maybe dictate versus, again, the bigger companies where you got a whole bunch of people who are my experience level and beyond.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:14] Well, I think it’s important to take a moment to appreciate that because the impact you’re having on those individuals impact their family and it could impact their community. I mean, it’s a big deal. And I think that we don’t spend enough time just taking moments and appreciating that kind of work because the ripples that happen from that that you may not even be aware of.

Todd Riesterer: [00:25:38] Yeah, and I think it’s a great point. And I would just say I feel so blessed because I had those mentors early in my career. I can still name them and still have relationships with them. Obviously, not giving last names, but Joe, Jonathan, Scott and Matt, four folks, some in HR, some in other lines of business that I worked with. The second job out of college that I ended up working with multiple times in my career as I would kind of follow them. And for whatever reason, they took an interest in helping me learn, and stretch, and grow. And they did that in many, many ways. Into this day, I’m personal kind of friends with them, and some other ways we’ve gotten to know each other. So, it’s just huge. I can’t imagine without those four individuals having taking chances on me how different my life would be. So, it’s kind of only fair, isn’t I?

Lee Kantor: [00:26:29] Absolutely.

Todd Riesterer: [00:26:29] You get to experience it yourself.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:32] Yeah. I think that’s important that we should be thinking of others, and serving, and helping the next group up. I mean, that’s part of our responsibility as part of this hive of humanity that we’re part of. Now, for you, what can we be doing to help you? What does LogicMonitor need more of now? Do you need more talent? I know you’re growing rapidly, so you’re probably always on the lookout for great folks. Do you need more clients? You’re all over the place. So, what can we be doing to help you?

Todd Riesterer: [00:27:05] Yeah. Obviously, you’ve hit on two big ones. And more talent is the area that I’m obviously focused on. So, we’ve got a very high bar. We have every individual coming into our business has to pass kind of a problem solving and competency assessment that’s done to keep the high bar. And so, we can’t get enough talent coming in. There’s a lot of people that aren’t able to pass; and therefore, wouldn’t be employed with us. So, really kind of high-achieving people with high intellect, and problem-solving ability, and competency. So, we can never have enough of them. As I said, we’re growing our population by a third every year. So, that’s really near and dear to my heart.

Todd Riesterer: [00:27:54] And customers, of course. We always have customers. The cool thing is we sell to any company of any size in any industry. Always need more. But without getting into details, our business has also been phenomenal and the interest in our products are phenomenal as well too. So, we are really pleased with the number we have there.

Todd Riesterer: [00:28:15] And I think the third area, then, back to talent, which is what you’re about, is how do we help people grow and progress? And I think when you get high achievers, there’s insatiable appetite so many times for people to want to make themselves better. So, continuing to have leading-edge ways that people can grow their personal and professional skills is really important. Days of kind of showing up in classrooms as the primary way of learning, I think, are long gone and not the most effective way to do it. So, how do we keep growing the smart, intelligent, highly productive and passionate people once we get them on board?

Lee Kantor: [00:28:57] Well, if somebody wanted to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on your team, or just get to know LogicMonitor. What’s the website and the coordinates?

Todd Riesterer: [00:29:07] So, I strongly suggest you could find us on LinkedIn and/or our company’s website, and it’s simply www.logicmonitor.com. And there’s a careers page there that you can find out a whole bunch about our culture and what we’re doing, as well as read the areas of our business, press releases, and some of the other information we have there. And then, there’s the contact information based in those pages as well about how to get in touch with us.

Lee Kantor: [00:29:36] Well, Todd, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Todd Riesterer: [00:29:41] Well, thank you very much. Same with you.

Lee Kantor: [00:29:43] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you next time on Learning Insights. And remember, this work would not be possible without the support of our sponsor, TrainingPros. Please support them, so we can continue to share these important stories.

About Training Pros

Since TrainingPros was founded in 1997, they have been dedicated to helping their clients find the right consultant for their projects.

23 years later, they are proud to have helped hundreds of clients complete their projects and thousands of consultants find great assignments. Training Pros continues to focus on helping their clients and consultants as well as their community.

Follow Training Pros on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Joyeta Samanta with Pulse Secure

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Pulse-Secure
Learning Insights
Joyeta Samanta with Pulse Secure
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Pulse Secure provides easy, comprehensive software-driven Secure Access solutions that provide visibility and seamless, protected connectivity between users, devices, things, and services. Our suites uniquely integrate cloud, mobile, application, and network access to enable hybrid IT in a Zero Trust world.

Today, more than 80% of the Fortune 500 and over 20,000 enterprises (and 18M end-points) and service providers across every vertical entrust Pulse Secure to empower their mobile workforce to securely access applications and information in the data center and cloud while ensuring business compliance.

Joyeta-Samanta-Pulse-SecureJoyeta Samanta, Director of Talent Success at Pulse Secure, lives and breathes talent success.

She is passionate about solving complex problems, enabling change, developing talent and growing organizations through employee engagement, employer branding, talent acquisition, bridging data analytics with cultural trends and innovating on policies and programs at scale.

Connect with Joyeta on LinkedIn and follow Pulse Secure on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Transcript

Intro: [00:00:01] Broadcasting live from Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for Learning Insights, featuring learning professionals improving performance to drive business results.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:15] Lee Kantor here. Another episode of Learning Insights. And it’s important to recognize our sponsor at TrainingPros. We could not be sharing these stories without their support. Today, only Learning Insights. We have Joy Samanta with Pulse Secure. Welcome, Joy.

Joy Samanta: [00:00:31] Hi, Lee. How are you doing?

Lee Kantor: [00:00:33] I am doing well. Before we get too far into things, tell us about Pulse Secure. How are you serving folks?

Joy Samanta: [00:00:40] So, Pulse Secure is a network security company. We started out six years ago. We provide easy, comprehensive, software-driven secure access solutions for B2B companies, helping them to really increase their employee productivity.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:58] And then, how did you get involved with the company?

Joy Samanta: [00:01:01] That’s a great question. My journey started on day one with Pulse, actually. Pulse divested from Juniper Networks, and I interviewed there. I joined Pulse. It was an exciting place to be. We were building out a company from just a product. And my journey started six years ago.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:18] And then, you’re the Director of Talent Success. What does that job entail?

Joy Samanta: [00:01:23] Basically, that job is a complicated title for simply saying that I ran the HR department. And so, we do a lot of fun things, partnering with the different leaders across various different functions, driving, learning and development, internal communications, and so much more. Just talent acquisition and total awards for our employees at Pulse.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:48] Now, how important is the culture to your organization?

Joy Samanta: [00:01:55] Honestly, it is our number one priority. And it starts with our CEO, who is very, very big on culture, values and drives most decisions and outcomes through those. So, I think it’s absolutely critical.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:11] Now, as being involved in the HR and you hear leadership tell you how important it is, how do you kind of take that messaging and that intent, and spread it throughout the organization? What are some things you can do and maybe some advice you can share for others that are in a similar position where leadership’s saying, “Hey, we want to invest in our culture. We want to have a culture we’re proud of that does the right things”? So, how do you take that information, and then kind of deploy it out to the folks in the front lines?

Joy Samanta: [00:02:43] That’s a great question. I think, and having worked with several different organizations and several different leaders, what I realized is having a clear sense of vision and communicating it repeatedly to employees, what it means, how do you embed those cultures in everything you do, how you collaborate, how you communicate, how you drive performance, but really tying every aspect of the business success to those culture and values is critical.

Joy Samanta: [00:03:12] For example, at Pulse, our values are about delighting customers, and having implicit trust, and winning together as a team. And so, for everything we do, whether it’s internal customers, external customers, we really want to be very solution-minded, focused on driving delight for our customers. We work in an environment where there is such a mutual accountability and we do have implicit trust with our co-workers and the people we work with. And the last of it is winning together as a team. We’re really focused on collaborating and all different aspects. For example, our leaders host Ask-Me-Anythings every ordinate week where every question is fair game, and they answer based on the questions that get uploaded. And so, just having that environment where the leaders are driving and are open to questions, listening to the employees is super critical.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:07] Now, how do you kind of measure success of something like that?

Joy Samanta: [00:04:13] We see how people become way more inclusive and iterative in their thinking and planning. And you can actually, I think, measure it in how aligned people are at the end of it because they’re all driving towards the same mission based on the same values. And so, I mean, that’s how we measure productivity and performance. And every time we do quarterly assessments from an HR standpoint, when managers are driving these conversations with employees, it’s really measured across those core values. But I think we have really high engagement scores because of it. That’s one way to measure it. We have very low attrition rates. And so, those are, again, things on how we measure the values and how people align themselves to it.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:05] Now, when you’re onboarding a new employee, how has that changed because of the pandemic and the reliance now maybe on more work-from-home environment?

Joy Samanta: [00:05:17] So, our products, our biggest product, VPN, helps employees around the world work remotely. And so, we have onboarded more than 200 people just during this pandemic. And fortunately, been one of those companies who have paid out bonuses at 150% and really not had to have any layoffs. And so, when we onboard people, people know that they are really partnering with an organization or coming to an organization that’s helping everybody work remotely. And so, day one, every single process that we do is virtually through Microsoft Teams, or Zoom, and so on. We have a buddy system. We have HR teams, IT teams, shipping laptops, but everybody comes together. But they also know that this is what we do as a business. And so, it’s very in line with every single action we do to drive remote access.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:10] Now, what’s some advice for the folks who aren’t as good at it as you to maybe kind of help them through this in a way that gives them some level of comfort and is effective as well? Because for some folks, this is a new thing. They hadn’t had to rely on work from home, and it’s forcing them to do this now, and maybe they don’t feel as comfortable or as confident. What are some of the kind of low-hanging fruit in order to make this a smooth process?

Joy Samanta: [00:06:43] So, regardless of whether you’ve been a remote employee or not, people struggle with it because it’s ongoing, and it’s been so for a very long time, and everybody is remote. One of the small things I think people can do is stop apologizing for every time there is a distraction of their kids playing in the background their pets climbing up. I mean, everybody understands that. Try as much to be on video. I think it’s exhausting, and people do have fatigue on facing a camera for eight hours a day, but wherever possible, build that connection, at least, for all the one-on-ones that you have to really get to know the person beyond video.

Joy Samanta: [00:07:24] And I would say, you don’t have to be ready. like, all dressed up or such. People understand what situation everybody is experiencing. And so, be real, be genuine, and it’s okay to struggle through it. Most people are. These times, uncertain as they are, everybody’s doing the best they can, and really trying to be open and genuine about it is probably what I would recommend.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:55] And it sounds like, also, to give people some grace because it is challenging for everybody, and it shouldn’t be something that we’re all paranoid of every noise, or sound, or your like you said, your kid dropping something or the dog barking. I mean, we’re all kind of in this together.

Joy Samanta: [00:08:14] Yes, exactly.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:16] Now, any advice for the young person who maybe just graduated college and is trying to get a job? And it seems like everything is now remote, and they’re doing the best they can to be kind of noticed and found. What are some activities that catch your eye with young talent?

Joy Samanta: [00:08:34] I think one of the things I’ve seen quite a few, we have a very strong internship program. And so, a lot of the students coming in looking for jobs, they’re very enthusiastic. They have bright ideas. And I think that’s super critical to share. Networking through very many virtual events. We host several different webinars and conferences that they can engage in. And I would recommend that young people use LinkedIn or other platforms that they have to share what their journey is, what their dream jobs are. People are out there to help, but they should definitely reach out to as many people in their networks as possible to help. And being patient and positive is the most critical thing. And it doesn’t matter if you’re a young person, or an older person, or people going through M&A, or change and losing jobs, I think being just patient through it and positive is super critical.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:28] And then, what is the pain that your clients are having where Pulse Secure is the solution?

Joy Samanta: [00:09:36] Honestly, we started this Pulse Cares thing in May, where we were giving out software licenses for people to try it out. And now, that they have tried it, and they love it, they won many, many, many devices to support their employees and so on around the world. And so, what they’re struggling with, I think, is scalability. And we, from our products, are definitely helping with both supportability and scalability of our products right now to help with our customers.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:05] And that helps you stand out?

Joy Samanta: [00:10:08] Yes, definitely. And our customer success teams are brilliant, and they’re 24×7 located all over the world. And I think that’s super helpful to the customers at this point and very reliable. So, we have had a lot of customers switch over from other competitors to Pulse because of the reliability, and the predictability, and stability of our products.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:29] Now, as this year is kind of coming to a close, what are some of the things you’re looking forward to? And also, what are some of the things you’re forecasting because it seems like this would be a tricky kind of environment to be forecasting into next year?

Joy Samanta: [00:10:46] Definitely tricky, a lot of uncertain elements. I would say, what we’re most looking forward to, so we’re coming up on the holiday season, and Pulse as a community does a lot for our local and global community. So, one thing we’re really looking forward to is our Giving Day, as well as appreciation event. Our appreciation event is internally for Pulsers, and our Giving Day is externally for our community. So, super enthusiastic because, every year, our employees and leaders go above and beyond and surprise us with how much they can do. So, sharing those stories is something we’re definitely looking forward to.

Joy Samanta: [00:11:24] In terms of planning for 2021, we do the best we can in terms of having a lot of variables and assumptions in the books, keeping a little bit of buffer. And we do realize that the growth that we have during this pandemic is not sustainable longer term, but planning around ways to diversify across our various products and still continue on the extraordinary growth path.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:55] So, now, for you, what’s the most rewarding part of your job?

Joy Samanta: [00:12:02] And this should be easy. The most rewarding part of my job is driving change in people’s behaviors, somehow helping people think in a different way, and making a small or a big impact in whichever community we’re serving. And I think that’s been the most amazing part. Even helping interns get full-time jobs or giving interns their full internships successfully. They’re all rewarding parts of my job.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:31] Now, can you share a story where maybe you took somebody under your wing, maybe mentored them and helped them get to the next level or maybe somebody on your team has done that?

Joy Samanta: [00:12:41] Yeah, definitely. I think it was two years ago, one of the interns we had was part of the operations team. And I, myself, was part of an operations team maybe six or seven years ago, and then transitioned HR. And having told my story and mentored them through it to understand the business comprehensively and not just from one particular department and division, they ended up moving to marketing and driving marketing operations. And that story and that change that they could see something comprehensively across the business and drive meaningful impact where they can truly see what they’re doing and the results immediately after, driving them towards that I think was fascinating and something I’m super proud of to be able to help with that.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:33] Yeah, it’s amazing the impact people can make on other people. And sometimes, you don’t take a moment to really appreciate that.

Joy Samanta: [00:13:41] Yeah, exactly. And people may not have thought about it if they didn’t have that conversation, if they didn’t watch other people do it and learn from it. So, I think it’s really important that we continue the conversations where people’s eyes are open to something completely different.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:58] And then, like you said earlier, it’s kind of the leadership really drives the culture. And then, the culture, if you have a strong culture, really kind of creates more leaders. So, it’s this kind of win-win-win all the way around.

Joy Samanta: [00:14:13] Absolutely. I think more and more leaders across the world are realizing that culture, the role of HR is super, super critical. It’s not an afterthought. It’s not just a support function. Yes. But it’s slowly changing for the better.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:28] And it’s one of those things that if you’re not intentional and mindful about it, there’s going to be a culture anyway. So, you might as well put some energy into shaping it in the direction you’d like it to be.

Joy Samanta: [00:14:39] Exactly, absolutely.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:41] So, now, if somebody wanted to learn more about Pulse Secure, what is the best way to find you or somebody on your team?

Joy Samanta: [00:14:50] I think just going to our website, pulsesecure.net, or if they’re interested in learning more about it, they can email careers@pulsesecure.net, and we’d be happy to help.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:01] Now, what do you need more of right now? Are you looking for more talent?

Joy Samanta: [00:15:06] So, Lee, honestly, we are coming up close on a possible acquisition by Avanti. So, we, right now, are continuing to do business as usual, help our customers, not hiding as we were a month ago. We had almost a hundred open recs, but we are just preparing as we can for the acquisition, as well as helping our customers at this time.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:33] Well, congratulations on all your success.

Joy Samanta: [00:15:36] Thank you so much, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:37] And thank you for sharing your story today.

Joy Samanta: [00:15:40] Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:40] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We will see you all next time on Learning Insights. Remember, this work could not be done without the support of our sponsor, TrainingPros. Please support them, so we can continue to share these important stories.

[00:16:02] Although we go down, down, down.

About Training Pros

Since TrainingPros was founded in 1997, they have been dedicated to helping their clients find the right consultant for their projects.

23 years later, they are proud to have helped hundreds of clients complete their projects and thousands of consultants find great assignments. Training Pros continues to focus on helping their clients and consultants as well as their community.

Follow Training Pros on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Paul Nieminen with Prudential Financial

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Paul-Nieminen-Prudential-Financial
Learning Insights
Paul Nieminen with Prudential Financial
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Paul-Nieminen-Prudential-FinancialPaul Nieminen is the Vice President, Learning Strategy at Prudential Financial and a globally recognized leader in the field of Organizational Development. He has created and implemented models that align and engage people with organizational strategies.

His expertise is in the areas of organizational culture, national culture, change management, organizational design, performance management, and talent management. He has held executive level positions in the largest global organizations, and has led the human component of Organizational Learning, Human Resources, Mergers &Acquisitions, and International Organizational Effectiveness.

Paul is a lifelong learner and holds several advanced degrees and practitioner certificates. He holds a BS in Business with an international concentration. He holds an MS is in Human Resource Development with a concentration in adult learning, counseling, and instructional design. He has a PhD (abd) in Human Resource Development has worked with the Anthropology Film Center in Santa Fe, NM. Paul is currently working on another PhD in Transformational and Social Change

Paul has two children and lives between Atlanta, GA and Matanzas Shores, FL. He travels the world often, reads Jung for fun, and appreciates both the concrete jungle and the magnificence of nature. Paul practices fatherhood, friendship, mindfulness, and gratitude. In addition to his corporate work, he often leads retreats at his lodge that is nestled within the rainforest of Costa Rica.

Connect with Paul on LinkedIn and follow Prudential Financial on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Transcript

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for Learning Insights. Brought to you by TrainingPros. When you have more projects than people, TrainingPros can provide you with the right L&D consultant to start your project with confidence. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:27] Lee Kantor here. Another episode of Learning Insights Radio. And this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, TrainingPros. Without them, we could not be sharing these important stories. Today on Learning Insights, we have Paul Nieminen with Prudential Financial. Welcome, Paul.

Paul Nieminen: [00:00:45] Welcome, Lee. Thank you very much for having me today.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:47] Well, I’m excited to talk about the topic we’re going to be talking about, which is learning strategy for 2021 and beyond. But before we get into that, let’s talk a little bit about Prudential Financial. How are you serving folks?

Paul Nieminen: [00:01:00] Well, I’ll tell you, we provide financial solutions for individuals, as well as advisors and employees in institutions throughout the world. We’re here in the US, as well as in some emerging markets around the globe. So, we’re here to bring you some unique and very fulfilling financial solutions.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:19] So, now, as the VP of Learning Strategy, well, like, what’s your role in the organization?

Paul Nieminen: [00:01:25] Well, my role, I’m in the Center of Excellence, and it’s the Employee and Development Capability Center of Excellence. And really, my role has three parts to it. One is to bring an overarching enterprise-wide learning strategy to Pru globally. Another one is really to help the organization identify the critical capabilities and develop those critical capabilities that will really give us a differentiated competitive advantage. And thirdly, I do some learning advisory for all of the different learning groups in the organization. So, it’s quite exciting. Really, I enjoy it, and it’s quite a great role for me.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:07] So, now, how does that kind of a mission get adjusted when the pandemic happens?

Paul Nieminen: [00:02:15] Lee, I really keep a close eye on the societal demands out there. And right now, there’s a big need for connection with employees. And so, I bring a very strong relational learning to the organization. There’s a lot of demands around social equity and racial equality. And we really address that as a learning organization. And really, finding what of those new capabilities out there for production within the organization that can help us kind of bridge this time and move into the future; adjust, if you will.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:59] Now, when you’re kind of coming up with this kind of a macro view, how do you get that drilled down into actionable things for your folks that you’re serving?

Paul Nieminen: [00:03:09] Yeah, and that’s a great question. And really, that’s the art of that is taking a strategic viewpoint. I create an architecture. I create a learning development architecture and leadership development architecture. And then, really, drill it down through alignment. So, I align the societal demands to the priorities for the learning organization. And then, we talk a lot about how do we take these demands, and how do we take these priorities, and really link them to the objectives of the learning programs and the learning that we do all the way down to the activities. So, it’s really about some ruthless alignment, is what I call it, which turns the actions, and aligns them to the strategy, and really makes it real for people.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:02] Now, how do you get kind of up and down the chain? How do you get that kind of alignment, and then being heard, and then knowing, “Okay, I can understand how this makes sense for me,” and then them having a voice to maybe kind of help you tweak kind of the overarching strategy? Kind of where it’s a back and forth?

Paul Nieminen: [00:04:21] Yeah, that’s a really good question, Lee, and I’ll give you an example about something we do with Puo. Let’s take racial equality, for example. We know that that’s a societal demand right now, and we know that that and diversity inclusion is a priority for us as Pru, as well as other organizations as well. So, what we do is we take that down and we overlay it over the learning that takes place. So, we have some programmatic learning that we give people the skills and the definitions about D&I.

Paul Nieminen: [00:04:51] But more so than that, and this I think, really gets to your question is, we bring in learning that is more relational. I bring an actual learning, which is something developed by Reg Revens and it’s business-driven action learning. And it’s about bringing these teams together, these diverse groups of people together where they can learn from one another, learn from the environment. They go through a process of asking questions. They go through a process of, really, applying their knowledge to the business issues at hand. And then, that, we bring it from the bottom of the organization up to the strategy, up to the policies, up to the procedures, so the entire organization is learning. So, that’s one example of taking the business demands of racial equity down into the learning, and then back up to the organization’s strategy. It works quite well, and it works quickly. So, you can really build the capability within the organization fast.

Paul Nieminen: [00:06:03] Now, one key here, for me, anyway, is not to rely on the programmatic learning, not to rely on just the learning programs that have a very hierarchical view. It’s really kind of learning, pushing it down from the top, but providing the guidelines, the guardrails, if you will, and creating an environment for people to learn from one another. And then, finding the ways to pull that learning up through the organization, whether it’s presenting to senior leadership or whether it is impacting the policies. So, it’s really learning from inside in, and outside in, and all throughout the organization. So, that’s one example of how we can bring that strategy to life, and then really make an impact, so we can address those societal demands.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:55] And do you find that the culture is really the key to making all of this thing click? Because if the culture and this kind of activity is congruent, and there’s trust and authenticity, then that kind of learning can be shared, and people can become vulnerable, and they want to help, and the information can flow more freely.

Paul Nieminen: [00:07:15] So, that’s another good question, Lee. I could tell you this for a living, asking really good questions. Concerning the culture, let’s look at it as underlying values, norms and belief systems, if you will, that are shared among a group of employees. What I do is, first, I describe what that culture is. And I look at, if this is what I want to do in the organization, if this is the change I want to make, what are the barriers in the culture and these underlying belief systems that might stand in the way? But also, what can I leverage in these belief systems?

Paul Nieminen: [00:07:48] Like, for example, if employees believe that learning from another is very valuable for them, I’ll really leverage that. But if they really believe that the only way to learn is top down, then I’ll find ways to combat that and change that belief system. So, it’s a matter of recognizing the culture, and defining it, and then working with it, and kind of evolving it over time, but finding those spots that inspire people in the culture, and drive that.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:24] Now, when you’re working in this manner, how do you kind of measure the results? Like, I know you have an intention that you would like to have happen, how are you kind of knowing you’re on the right track or if this is even a track worth pursuing?

Paul Nieminen: [00:08:39] Yeah, it’s a good point. So, what I do is I look at, of course, the lagging indicators, because everything that we do needs to align to the business strategy and it’s to move that needle. But that’s really tough sometimes to connect what it is we’re doing to the business outcome like that. So, what I do is I look for those leading indicators. For example, maybe it’s the succession planning processes, or maybe it is some diversity that we’re trying to bring in, or maybe it is readiness of managers. And I put measures around those leading indicators, many times, HR processes, to let me know if I’m on the right track.

Paul Nieminen: [00:09:25] But then, that’s firstly. And secondly, I’ll look at the actual learning itself, and look at the learning objectives, and make sure that you got those right, and make sure that you can measure those learning objectives in some way. So, it’s multiple layers of measurement, but I think that’s really important to design and lay out that measurement way upfront.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:52] And then, what is some of the activity or some of the results that you get that gets you high fives in your team at the end of the quarter?

Paul Nieminen: [00:10:00] Yeah. I’ll tell you what it is for me. So, one of these programs I brought in, I got a letter to my office, and it came in, and it was from one of the participants spouses. And it said, “Paul, I don’t know what you all did in that learning, but my husband sees the world a whole different way. The way he treats my family is different. He’s open to more discussions. He looks at things very differently. He’s a learner now, opposed to a judger,” as the words that were used in this letter. And I kept that because to me, if I can make that impact on leaders, if we as an organization can make that impact and spread that throughout the organization, that’s a high-five too because that was our goal.

Paul Nieminen: [00:11:01] Our goal was to shift the mindsets in the organization from judger to learner, if you will. Similar to racial equity and diversity, the mindset shift would be to really seek out these different perspectives and these fresh perspectives and bring those back into the organization. So, keeping an eye on how we impact the people, that’s what does it for me. That’s what gives me my gratification and my team’s high fives. I got a chat today from somebody over in Europe that said, “We did it. We moved the needle. And everybody is inspired about it.” So, it’s about inspiring people, for me, because that’s how you’re going to impact the business results.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:51] And it goes well beyond that. As the note kind of explains, you’re impacting a family, and that could be impacting a community. It’s not just the kind of work you’re doing at Prudential. The ripples go well beyond Prudential.

Paul Nieminen: [00:12:10] And that’s some of the societal demands, particularly right now with the with the COVID-19, is where the people connect, and what do we provide as an organization? I mean, today, we are the connector in many ways in society. So, we connect as an organization, and then they bring that back to the family, and then it truly does impact society over time. So, I think you’re right. It’s the whole person. It’s the authentic person. It’s the whole person that we’re dealing with.

Paul Nieminen: [00:12:49] And there, we move away from that programmatic view of learning to the relational view of learning, which is the way we started with this conversation. And that, to me, is where we’re heading as a learning industry is much more relational, asking questions, knowing the person, reflection, really taking feedback, and using feedback, and connecting, and looking at the person as a whole as authentic, and connecting those people in a networked way around the organization. And that’s what we do with these programs. And that’s what we do at Pru.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:29] Now, any advice for the learning leader in another organization that’s trying to kind of do similar work that you’ve accomplished at Prudential? How would you go about beginning this or, at least, having the conversations with the senior leadership to open their mind to the power of kind of this kind of thinking?

Paul Nieminen: [00:13:49] Yeah, yeah. And that’s a good one. And what I do is find a way to resonate to the leaders, because it’s really tough when you talk about training in terms of our why and those sort of terms, but if you logically appeal to the leaders, what I do is I create, and I call it an architecture, I create a learning architecture. In other words, these are the demands, this is how we’re going to meet those demands, these are the learning events and strategy we’re going to use to get there, and this is how we’re going to measure it.

Paul Nieminen: [00:14:26] And when they see that alignment, when they see how it all fits together, and it resonates, that’s the first step. And then, from there, building all the detail out of it, and showing them what it is. Because many times, people want to get down into the weeds, but they want to see examples of the weeds. So, start out by, really, calling it what it is, looking at those demands both in the society, the environment, the competitive demands, the customer demands, and then the demands inside the organization, and address those, and look for what I call the litmus test.

Paul Nieminen: [00:15:08] Does it resonate? Do they sit back and say, “That makes sense? I learned something today. I never thought of it that way before.” That’s what I go for in those initial meetings is that aha moment of “I never thought of that before. And that’s a great way to look at it. And that makes a lot of sense.” Then, I know we’re on the right track because that’s what resonates, that builds trust with the leaders, that builds hope that things are going to change, and that builds a lot of confidence in the training and the change that we’re going to build in the organization.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:44] Then, do you try to create like a pilot program or a beta test in order to test that thesis, and then roll it out system-wide? Like, how do you do that?

Paul Nieminen: [00:15:44] Well, I used to do that, but the environment is changing so fast, Lee. And really, I use an agile approach more than a waterfall approach. So, I really get in there, and build it, and start implementing, and let the process learn. Let the learning programs and learning processes themselves evolve with the time. So, I don’t wait. I like to get in there and implement right away because I know we have some sound things. And then, we adjust as we go along.

Paul Nieminen: [00:16:29] So, now, to that point, I look for things that we can leverage and scale within the organization. So, I will start small. I’ll start with small groups, but it’s not necessarily a pilot. It’s more of an implementation at a smaller scale. And then, I look for ways that I can scale that out in the organization, which saves money, saves time and is much more efficient.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:54] So, you’re rolling it out, and you’re learning and tweaking as you go?

Paul Nieminen: [00:16:58] You bet. Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:00] So, now, how do you use the learning organization to leverage voice and choice?

Paul Nieminen: [00:17:07] That’s a great question, and one that I have been really working with lately, and that’s been really tough of mind. I’ve been looking at what’s happening within our organization and others. And when I think about voice and choice, I think about diversity and inclusion. Let’s put it in that lens, first of all. And I think the organizations that measures out there for that, we have numbers of diverse candidates in the pipeline. We have numbers of diverse positions, different positions. There’s training out there for implicit bias and all of that.

Paul Nieminen: [00:17:48] And I think that organizations or we, anyway, at Pru, are really evolving past that to include that, of course, that’s necessary, but evolve past that to really look at how do we create the agency in the organization, which is the voice. And I think we do that through using the BRGs. And a lot of organizations have business resource groups. But putting them into learning activities that allow connection with them to other groups in the organization and have them learn in ways that impact the processes and the strategy of the organization. And that’s where action learning again comes in.

Paul Nieminen: [00:18:36] And I’m a true strong believer in action learning. I’ve seen it work over and over again. Again, it’s attributed to the work of Reg Revens, who first brought it from some Nobel Prize winners. But it’s about searching out that fresh perspective, searching out learning from one another, searching out learning from outside the organization. Well, it’s this voice and choice that’s that fresh perspective. So, bringing these folks together, bringing this voice together in a learning community that impacts strategy, impacts policy, impacts decision making.

Paul Nieminen: [00:19:16] And you do that. We do that in Pru through action learning, through other types of programs that we have specifically for these groups, working on projects, this sort of things. So, it’s about the feedback. It’s about how do you get feedback from these groups into the strategy, the policies and the decisions that the organization makes. And that’s been on top of mind for me. And that’s really where when I build a learning architecture, and I look at these kind of demands of the environment, as well as the expectations of our organization at Pru, is to increase this voice, it’s about putting in the structure, the learning structure, to be able to get information not just from top down, but the learning structure to get information from bottom up and across the organization through different teams, through different supports, through different learning classes, through nominated type of learning activities, all of that.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:25] So, you’re actually bringing folks together that are across all layers of the organization, so it’s not siloed kind of learning, it’s across the board altogether, and then they’re able to share, and kind of get to know each other, and understand and maybe have more empathy for each other?

Paul Nieminen: [00:20:42] You’re right. That’s the relational part of it. So, specifically, we look at getting diverse groups of people together in a learning environment, like you said, from different levels, from different business units, from different parts of the globe, different geos, bringing them together and facilitating in a very strong way how they learn together. So, I use a lot of questioning. Instead of just giving information and saying, “What are your ideas here?” we use a lot of questioning to get at their underlying assumptions. So, through questioning, we can understand their underlying assumptions, understand their world view. That gives us the empathy that you’re talking about.

Paul Nieminen: [00:21:27] And then, we look at how we apply that worldview in different parts of the organization into the strategy. And that is that process of providing those guardrails for the learning, not just throwing people in the room and seeing what they come up with, not just throwing people on a project and assuming that they’re going to be able to get their voices heard, but facilitating the questioning in that deeper understanding. That’s what creates the change. And then, providing the environment and the pipeline to get that fresh perspective, to impact the policies and the organization. Does that make sense?

Lee Kantor: [00:22:05] Well, and also-

Paul Nieminen: [00:22:05] I wanted it practical. Hopefully, that’s not too theoretical.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:10] No, but it’s also you want to be able to have them see that they were heard and that you’re doing something, at least, along those lines, that you’re taking action along their thinking.

Paul Nieminen: [00:22:24] And that’s where that inspiration comes in. That’s where the inspiration comes in, Lee. So, when learners go through that, and they feel valued, and they feel heard, and they see the impact of their learning to the organization. If there’s one thing I heard over and over again the most, and this is what … again, to your high-five point – is people came up to us, and they continue to come up to us, and they said, “I have a lot of hope.” And that’s the word they use over and over again. And they have hope because they see how they impact the organization, and they see how their ideas can bubble up and really make a difference. And that’s where the inspiration comes from. And so, that in itself changes the culture of the organization into a very, very productive, inspirational, all-inclusive organization.

Lee Kantor: [00:23:27] So, now, as we head into 2021, any advice for folks regarding this new post-COVID world that we’re in for leadership? Maybe things that they should be thinking about that can be rolled out organizationally?

Paul Nieminen: [00:23:45] I do think so. I think that it’s so important to look at the collective capability of an organization. We spent a lot of time looking at individual competencies and look at how we develop individuals within the organization. I think we really need to take more of a collective view and look at the those critical capabilities that the organization does together, or the function does together, or groups do together, and identifying those and finding ways to build and develop those capabilities.

Paul Nieminen: [00:24:26] So, again, the difference is this is a capability across a shared group of people, like maybe it’s succession planning if you’re in HR, or maybe it’s actuary if you’re in an insurance group, or maybe it’s about the customer experience and these sorts of things. Finding those and allowing the space to develop there, not just looking at it from individual competency standpoint, because when people are working together and learning together, the environment’s moving too fast for us to fragment and deconstruct so much into those competencies.

Paul Nieminen: [00:25:08] So, my advice for 2021 would be to identify what of those three key capabilities, either at the organization or the functional level, that’s collective, and focus on those because that’s what’s going to give the differentiated competitive advantage. That’s what’s going to set your organization apart or your function apart. And if you’re support function, that’s what’s going to bring the biggest impact to the organization at all. So, that’s kind of what I’m looking at for 2021 is identifying and building those capabilities because the fact is, is that, Lee, they change every two to three years. So, that’s why you can’t take three years to develop a program for capabilities. You really have to identify them right away, and then find ways through people and from a relational standpoint to really develop them in an agile way. And agile, I mean, our processes to do that.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:16] Well, Paul, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work, and we appreciate you.

Paul Nieminen: [00:26:22] Lee, thank you very much. And I’m very excited about what Pru is doing. I mean, we’re really a true learning organization, and I’m real excited to be able to bring my craft there. So, thank you very much for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:35] Now, if somebody wants to learn more about Prudential, the website?

Paul Nieminen: [00:26:39] Absolutely, prudential.com.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:41] And if somebody wants to connect with you, what’s the best way? Is that LinkedIn?

Paul Nieminen: [00:26:47] Yeah, Lee, connect with me on LinkedIn. You have my information. My name, Paul Nieminen. And feel free, anybody out there, to connect with me, and I’d be happy to share with you, and also collaborate with you on things that you’re doing in your organization.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:03] Well, thank you again for sharing your story, Paul.

Paul Nieminen: [00:27:06] Thank you, Lee. Have a great afternoon.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:08] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Learning Insights. And remember, this work could not be done without the support of our sponsor, TrainingPros. Please support them, so we can continue to share these important stories.

Outro: [00:27:23] Thank you for listening. For more information about TrainingPros, visit their website at training-pros.com.

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Kimberley Brown with Core Insights 360 PR

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Atlanta Business Radio
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Kimberley-Brown-Core-Insights-360-PRKimberley Brown is CEO of Core Insights 360 PR and is a highly sought after, Award-Winning, PR professional and writing expert with more than 14 years of experience. Some of her publicity efforts have landed coverage and/or interviews for clients in leading outlets like Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Washington Post, Bloomberg, ABC TV, and CNBC – to name a few.

As part of her career, she has supported leading brands such as Dell Computers, Colgate-Palmolive, Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper, Turner Broadcasting, BellSouth Corporation and Cox Communications.

Furthermore, in 2013, she drove the PR efforts for Martin Luther King’s 50th Anniversary event in Washington, DC driving top tier and local media from around the country. She even oversaw the PR efforts for one of the anniversary’s featured events, which was a casting call for ABC’s The Shark Tank, landing interviews for Mark Cuban.

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Colette Hughes with Virtual Real Estate Services

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Detroit Business Radio
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Collette-Hughes-Virtual-Real-Estate-ServicesFor Colette Hughes real estate is not just her profession…it’s her passion. She has over 25 years of experience in different areas of real estate from traditional residential and commercial real estate sales, short sales, bank foreclosures, tax foreclosures/auctions, helping 1st time home buyers, helping seasoned buyers and sellers, property management to property investments.

She’s currently the Broker / Owner of Virtual Real Estate Services, LLC based in Sterling Heights, MI. She’s proud to go above and beyond to help any community, family, friends, fellow real estate brokers and real estate agents with real estate services.

Colette earned her Broker license from Middleton Real Estate Training, Associates Degree in Business Administration from Detroit College of Business and has a BA in Christian Studies from Midwestern Christian Institute.

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