In our latest WhatWorks podcast, Samantha Garvie, HR Safety and Compliance Director at Rowley’s Wholesale, speaks with Kathi Enderes from The Josh Bersin Company.

Rowley’s Wholesale, a Michigan-based distributor of automotive and industrial products, has been in business for over 100 years and is currently in its third generation of ownership. With 125+ employees across three locations, the company utilizes UKG-Ready for its HRIS system, covering benefits, timekeeping, payroll, succession planning, and learning management.

The mobile app has been widely adopted by employees, enabling them to access important information and complete tasks remotely. Samantha shares insights on how technology is transforming the employee experience and discusses her plans to explore AI to enhance fatigue management, stress management, retention, and succession planning. This episode offers valuable lessons on leveraging HR technology to support a distributed workforce and drive organizational success.

Interviewee: Samantha Garvie, HR Safety and Compliance Director, Rowley’s Wholesale

Company: Rowley’s Wholesale, a US-based distributor of automotive and industrial products with 125 employees

This week Klarna, a buy-now pay-later company in Sweden, announced plans to terminate its Workday and Salesforce relationships and build it themselves. A bunch of tech pundits are big fans, but I have my doubts. As you’ll hear in the podcast, many big companies (much bigger than Klarna) have tried this, only to retreat to vendor solutions. And I do question the business strategy of putting high-powered engineering talent on commodity-like products like HCM and CRM.

Obviously AI is getting smarter and more capable by the minute. As I explain in the podcast, there are better ways to think about this problem, and this conversation opens up the door to a big discussion about the future of enterprise apps, agentic AI, and the role of large-scale incumbent vendors in our corporate IT stacks.

Additional Information

Klarna Cuts 50% of Workforce, Ends Partnerships with Salesforce and Workday Amid Generative AI Overhaul

Klarna Plans to ‘Shut Down SaaS Providers’ and Replace Them With Internally Built AI. The Tech World Is Pretty Skeptical

AI Agents, The New Workforce We’re Not Quite Ready For (Agentic AI)

Agentic AI is the next big wave in AI, where AI systems and chatbots can take actions on our behalf. These agents can perform tasks such as composing emails, creating documents, building courses, and even recruiting. They can be seen as virtual employees or teammates that can be trained and managed. These agents will change the technology landscape and the stack of tools in our organizations. They will require onboarding, training, and governance to ensure they are effective and secure. And Agentic AI has the potential to improve productivity and provide measurable ROI.

Keywords agentic AI, AI systems, chatbots, virtual employees, virtual teammates, training manager, recruiting agent, technology landscape, productivity improvement, measurable ROI

Takeaways

• Agentic AI allows AI systems and chatbots to take actions on our behalf, performing tasks such as composing emails, creating documents, building courses, and recruiting.
• These agents can be seen as virtual employees or teammates that can be trained and managed.
• Agentic AI will change the technology landscape and the stack of tools in organizations, requiring onboarding, training, and governance.
• These agents have the potential to improve productivity and provide measurable ROI.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Agentic AI 01:11 Agentic AI in Training Management 05:56 Agentic AI in Recruiting 09:03 Onboarding and Training Agentic AI 12:08 Changing the Technology Landscape with Agentic AI 16:31 Measuring the ROI of Agentic AI

Additional Information

AI Agents, The New Workforce We’re Not Quite Ready For

Artificial Intelligence in HR: Certificate Course From The Josh Bersin Academy

Introducing Galileo, The World’s First AI-Powered Expert Assistant For HR

Autonomous Corporate Learning Platforms: Arriving Now, Powered by AI

In this podcast I discuss the ever-changing role of Labor in our economy, our companies, and our own personal lives. The word “labor” is really an old-fashioned idea, but we still have the US holiday, so I wanted to unpack what it now means.

As you’ll learn Labor Day is a time to think about hiring, pay, development, and diversity as well as productivity, labor unions, the impact of tips and income inequality, and the enormous role of HR as an ombudsman between “labor” and “management.” And yes, AI is going to force us to think deeper about what “people” do in our companies.

Remember that we’re all “labor” and every employee is a human being. So while US Labor Day was originally a way to celebrate unions and organized labor, let’s also think broader about all the value-based investments we make in every person in our companies.

Keywords:

Labor Day, labor movement, workers, economy, automation, technology, labor shortage, skills shortage, investment in employees, unions, fair pay, benefits, working conditions, income inequality, HR professionals, Boeing, Starbucks, employee activation

Chapters:

00:00 The Importance of Workers in the Economy 02:11 Automation and the Changing Labor Force 04:07 Investing in Employees to Attract and Retain Talent 14:37 The Role of Unions in Advocating for Fairness 17:48 Addressing Income Inequality 20:08 The Role of HR in Supporting Employees

Additional Information

When Will The Trillions Invested In AI Pay Off? Sooner Than You Think.

With Thoughtful Design And Culture, Dropbox Proves Remote Work Is A Winner

AI in HR Certificate Program in The Josh Bersin Academy

Learn about Galileo: The World’s AI Assistant for HR

In this WhatWorks podcast I interview Andy Bradshaw, the CEO of SHL. SHL is one of the world’s largest psychometric assessment vendors, bringing together psychology, skills assessment, and other forms of measurement to identify the capabilities, and potential of an individual at work.

These highly scientific assessments are widely used for pre-hire screening, job-fit analysis, development planning, leadership development, and succession planning. But in a world of AI, where large HR platforms are “inferring” skills and capabilities, where do they fit?

Andy, who has led SHL for many years, explains how psychometric assessment fits into the new world of AI and Talent Intelligence. He also shares how SHL itself has amassed a large data set on skills and roles that makes SHL a big data vendor as well.

Keywords

SHL, talent intelligence, assessments, AI, talent acquisition, talent management, leadership assessment, benchmarking, data-driven decisions

Episode Chapters

00:00 Introduction 00:57 SHL: A Talent Intelligence Business 02:21 Psychometric Assessments and Tailored Solutions 03:47 Customization and Defensibility of Assessments 06:37 Consolidation in the Assessment Market 07:07 The Complementary Role of AI and Assessments 08:56 Assessments vs. AI: The Value of Insights 12:49 Assessing Leaders: Experience, Ability, and Potential 16:09 Benchmarking and Data-driven Decisions 19:03 Talent Intelligence: Aggregating Data for Better Decisions 21:17 Conclusion

Additional Information

Introducing the HR Career Navigator

The Talent Intelligence Primer

When Will The Trillions Invested In AI Pay Off? Sooner Than You Think.

In this week’s podcast I describe the HR Career Navigator and the role of HR skills and capabilities in HR and business transformation. Then, as we approach HR Tech season, I give you my three steps to evaluating HR Tech vendors.

Additional Information

Introducing The HR Career Navigator

Why Is It So Hard To Be A Chief HR Officer (CHRO)?

Research Shows That High Growth Large Companies Have Distinct HR Skills

This week I recap the idea of a “Corporate Learning Architecture” and give you some of my historic perspectives on why this is so important in the age of AI. A Learning Architecture is a constrained approach to corporate L&D that gives employees a clear and memorable approach to learning, and also gives you the “freedom within a framework” to use AI without creating chaos.

We are in the middle of deep interviews, case studies, and vendor research on the impact of AI on L&D, so as I discuss here if you’d like to talk with us please let us know. Some of this podcast will be a good overview of the basics, but this is important because we don’t want our business training environments to look like TikTok!

Contact us at https://joshbersin.com if you’d like to join in our Pacesetter program for Corporate L&D.

Additional Information

Oldie: The Need For A Learning Architecture

Autonomous Corporate Learning Platforms: Arriving Now, Powered by AI

The $340 Billion Corporate Learning Industry Is Poised For Disruption

AI in HR Certificate Program in The Josh Bersin Academy

In this episode, Susan Podlogar, former CHRO at MetLife, talks with Kathi Enderes about the transformative impact of an AI-based talent marketplace (powered by Gloat). You’ll learn what a talent marketplace is, how to implement, and why these solutions are rapidly growing around the world.

Podlogar explains how they implemented this solution and how it unleashes energy for individuals and the organization. MetLife’s talent marketplace democratizes access to projects, mentoring, and roles, fostering an inclusive culture and enhancing skill development. She also explains how this HR solution drives critical skills development (ie. actuaries) for competitive advantage.

As Susan explains, today 60% of employees participate and more than 400,000 of work hours have been saved – driving productivity, engagement, and financial returns.

Additional Information

The Mad Scramble To Lead The Talent Marketplace Market

The Definitive Guide to Building a Dynamic Organization

Career and Talent Mobility: Certificate Program In The Josh Bersin Academy