CIPD

As business priorities shift, skills shortages intensify and technology changes the nature of work, organisations need a clearer view of the skills and capabilities they have — and how to deploy them where they can create the greatest impact. But how can learning professionals support the building of new capability at pace and scale, when many organisations still struggle to see what skills exist in the workforce, to what level of expertise, or to move that capability to where it's needed most?

Join Nigel Cassidy and this month's guests – Shona Marshall, Founder of The ASM Difference; Laurell Hector, Managing Director at McManus HRD; and Andrew Jacobs, Learning Strategist and Founder of Llarn Learning – as they explore L&D's role in supporting the shift to becoming a skills-based organisation.

In this episode, our panel explores:
Why L&D is critical to enabling skills-based transformation, by responding to business priorities and driving the performance they require
How skills intelligence, taxonomies and internal marketplaces can inform smarter, workforce planning, internal mobility and learning investment.
What must change in how learning is designed and delivered – moving away from linear, one-off training programmes towards continuous, skills-led development that keeps pace with changing skills landscape.

---

Your next listen:
CIPD Podcast 231: The journey to a skills-based organisation
CIPD Podcast 207: HR’s next top operating model
HR People Pod – Episode 48: Leadership reflections | Skills visibility | Workload creep

More from this episode:
Guide – Skills matching: Using and deploying people’s skills effectively in the workplace
Analysis – How L&D can create value: Focussing on skills development
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HR People Pod – Ep 53: Progression conversations | ERA 2025: Probation | Relationship building
What's the real cost when organisations avoid honest career progression conversations? As the qualifying period for unfair dismissal drops from two years to six months under the Employment Rights Act 2025, how ready are managers to really make probation periods count? And with managers stretched thinner than ever, has building real relationships with their people become an afterthought?

CIPD Director of Profession David D’Souza is joined by Cheryl Samuels, co-founder of #InclusiveHR; Vilma Nikolaidou, Director of People and Culture at the British Film Institute; and Marc Weedon, Executive Coach, HR Consultant and Owner of excelHR.

Recorded: 10 July 2026

---

Additional resources:

Tracking law changes: Employment Rights Act 2025

Guidance: Effectively managing probation

Your next listen:

CIPD Podcast 226: Closing skill gaps from within: the case for internal mobility

HR People Pod – Ep 39: Rewriting the rules on workplace conflict – with David Liddle
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does courageous leadership really look like when the pressure is on? How can leaders move beyond assumptions and opaque messaging to create genuine clarity? And why is humility one of the most important pillars of good leadership?

CIPD Director of Profession David D’Souza is joined by author, leadership coach and founder of Courageous Leadership Consultancy, Diana Osagie, to explore how leaders can transform thinking, build better organisational habits and create the clarity and confidence to have the conversations that matter.

Recorded: 10 June 2026

---

Additional resources:

Article: Diana Osagie on the foundations of courageous leadership (People Management)

Explore more from Diana Osagie on courageous and empowered leadership

Your next listen:

CIPD Podcast 214: Success starts small – Building sustainable workplace habits

HR People Pod – Ep 44: Crisis leadership | Impact of employee benefits | Friction-maxxing at work

HR People Pod – Ep 37: Leading under pressure – with Professor Kevin Fong
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For decades, jobs have helped organisations structure work, allocate responsibilities and make decisions about people. But as business priorities shift, skills shortages intensify and technology changes the nature of work, organisations need a clearer view of the skills and capabilities they have — and how to deploy them where they can create the greatest impact.

Join Nigel Cassidy and this month’s guests – Simone Carroll, CHRO and Director; Stephen Findlay, Head of Organisational Development at Skills Development Scotland; and Alex Boulting, Global OD & HR Transformation Leader at Ebbnflow – as they explore what it means to become a skills-based organisation.

In this episode, our panel explores:
•What it means to become a skills-based organisation, and how skills can complement rather than replace traditional job and role structures
•How people professionals can identify current and future skills needs, connect skills to business impact, and rethink recruitment, workforce planning, performance and development
•Why skills-based transformation is not just an HR project, but a people strategy requiring co-creation, trust, cultural change and the right use of skills data and technology

---

Your next listen:
CIPD Podcast 207: HR’s next top operating model
HR People Pod – Episode 48: Leadership reflections | Skills visibility | Workload creep

More from this episode:
Guide – Skills matching: Using and deploying people’s skills effectively in the workplace
Analysis – How L&D can create value: Focussing on skills development
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As agentic AI moves beyond being a tool and starts to act with greater autonomy, how should organisations think about trust, oversight and accountability? If entry-level roles are changing — or even shrinking — what does that mean for young people trying to take their first step into work, and for employers hoping to build future capability? And which pivotal career moments can change how HR professionals think about their work, their leadership and their impact?

CIPD Director of Profession David D’Souza, is joined by Jo Carlin, Chief People Officer at Effective Energy Group, and Andy Stephenson, Director at Dove Nest Group.

Recorded: 11 June 2026

---

Additional resources:
Case studies: AI in the workplace
https://www.cipd.org/en/topics/artificial-intelligence-workplace/

Guide: How people professionals can develop, deploy, and use AU in an ethical, legal and sustainable way
https://www.cipd.org/en/knowledge/guides/people-professionals-ai-use/

Skills for the future: Why investment in early talent is crucial for workforce success
https://www.cipd.org/en/views-and-insights/thought-leadership/insight/investment-early-talent/

Your next listen:
CIPD Podcast 228: The missing first rung: Are we sleepwalking into a talent crisis?
https://www.cipd.org/en/knowledge/podcasts/missing-first-rung-are-we-sleeping-into-a-talent-crisis/

CIPD Podcast 229: From AI experimentation to AI maturity
https://www.cipd.org/en/knowledge/podcasts/from-ai-experimentation-to-ai-maturity/

HR People Pod - Ep 43: Inside Davos - AI, work and the future of identity - with Allyn Bailey
https://www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/podcasts/hr-people-pod/#:~:text=on%20benefits%202026-,HR%20People%20Pod%20%E2%80%93%20Ep%2043%3A%20Inside%20Davos%20%E2%80%93%20AI%2C%20work%20and%20the%20future%20of%20identity%20%2D%20with%20Allyn%20Bailey,-Duration%3A%2000%3A34

HR Coffee Time with Fay Wallis - Episode 155
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zi4ib2ER6g
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.