it’s actually everyone’s job
Hiiiii,
Another Monday, here we gooooo. I’m actually taking some time off this week for the first time this summer! I needed a break before the chaos of the fall started.
If you haven’t taken some PTO in a while, here’s your reminder! Breaks are good and healthy for you and those around you. <333
In the meantime, if you miss me this week here are a few places you can catch me:
🎧 On the I Hate it Here pod chatting with April Little about 3 career hard truths. We’re debunking some things and sharing how to get through other situations. April was a blast to have on the pod, and she was recently named by Time as one of 100 creators with the most influential digital voices in 2025! You love to see it, go April go!
📺 HR Therapy: On 8/27 at 1PM ET, I’m throwing a party. I’m hosting HR Therapy. We’re talking about all things candidate experience and employer brand. Candidates are vocal, now more than ever, about their experiences. So, let's give the something to talk about??
🏙️ In Chicago at the Safe Space Summit. I’ve secured some of the most interesting and inspirational voices in the biz to talk about and offer solutions to HR’s toughest challenges. Catch Sarika Lamont, Jennifer Laurie, Elaine Page, Erin L. Thomas, and Lindsay Verstegen on the stage. If you are a VP level or above and are looking to connect with peers and put together a plan for how to solve your biggest challenges, you need to be in the room! Apply for a spot today.
And now, onto todayyy something that isn’t just HR’s job for a change. :)
CULTURE
Reskilling isn’t just HR’s job: Copy anchor linkCopied
Last week I declared we’re in the era of reskilling and that reskilling is a critical company imperative.
Apparently I was feeling BOLD last week with my declarations.
Hell hath no fury like an HR person with yet another massively huge responsibility on their shoulder.
But here’s the thing, reskilling isn't just HR’s responsibility.
Every single leader and manager in your org needs to play a role in order to make sure your team is ready to take on the future and pivot as AI continues to disrupt work and everything we know.
The shelf life for skills is decreasing to just a few years… It's only a matter of time before that goes down to a FEW MONTHS. Eeeek!
The bottom line: if your organization is not committed to building new capabilities, you’re already falling behind.
Last week I shared how to build your skills inventory and don’t worry I'm working on a template to share soon!
This week is about how we get everyone on the same page that reskilling is a shared responsibility. Let’s look at the role of leaders, managers and HR.
Leaders: vision & $$$$Copy anchor linkCopied
📣 Reskilling will only work when executives make it a business priority, not an HR sidequest.
It starts with: Which skills will keep us competitive in the next 6 to 24 months?
Remember, tech is evolving so quickly and shelf life for skills is going down. 6 months might feel like too soon, but trust me you want to be thinking in shorter sprints with how things are going!
Then comes the vision: pinpointing the skills for the next 6 to 24 months and then using them to guide every hiring, development, and budget choice.
Your leaders should constantly be talking about the vision of the org, how it evolves and what that means for the employees (and their skills!!) in things like all hands, company wide comms, leadership meetings and even board discussions.
It could sound something like: “Here are the three skills we need to master in the next 6 to 24 months if we want to stay ahead of our competition. We’re going to hire for them, train for them, assess in performance reviews and put real money behind them.”
Finally comes the follow-through. Finance, close your ears for a min!!!
In order to make reskilling a priority there needs to be:
💰 Real budget
⏰ Time
⚒️ Tools
When leaders personally join training, spotlight skill growth in all-hands, and back it with budget, they send a clear message: learning is a must.
Without the vision and investment, reskilling slips into “nice to have” territory and is the first thing to get cut when pressure hits.
Get your leaders aligned around reskilling by:
- Explaining the importance of reskilling
- Sharing data around shelf life of skills and impacts of AI
- Sharing the skills inventory
- Setting time aside to discussion vision
- Allocating budget and time for the tools needed
Managers: turning learning into a habit Copy anchor linkCopied
👀 If leaders set the vision then managers are the bridge between strategy and reality.
Managers are the first to see where skill gaps are slowing down projects and where curiosity could spark innovation.
Their role in reskilling is to normalize learning on the job. The best managers are actively hunting for learning opportunities inside current work.
That might mean:
- Identifying a stretch assignment that forces a team member to learn and apply a new skill in real time.
- Assigning a team member to shadow a project that uses a new tool
- Carving out time during standups to share “one thing I learned this week.”
- Rotate ownership of team presentations so everyone gets to stretch a new skill.
- Pair less experienced employees with subject matter experts for quick knowledge swaps.
- Turn project retros into mini learning sessions by highlighting what was tried, what worked, and what didn’t.
These are the kinds of actions managers can take with their teams to make learning part of the day-to-day.
BUT for that to stick, you have to make sure your managers are actually bought in and equipped to lead the charge…
Get your managers aligned around reskilling by:
- Setting clear expectations that skill growth is part of their role, not just HR’s.
- Involving them in the skills inventory work
- Equipping them with talking points so they can explain why reskilling matters in team meetings and how to position opportunities to learn
- Giving them tools and a budget for on-the-job learning opportunities.
- Sharing success stories of managers who’ve grown their team’s skills and seen results.
- Measuring and recognizing managers who actively develop their people not just hit performance targets.
The bottom line: When managers see reskilling as part of their job and are supported to make it happen, skill growth stops being another thing they have to do and instead becomes part of how the team operates. And that’s what builds a culture that can adapt to whatever the future throws at it.
HR: Building the infrastructure Copy anchor linkCopied
🚢 We are the captains of the ship, the masters of our destiny, and the architects of the learning ecosystem.
HR designs the programs and policies that make reskilling possible. Not only that though, we also ensure access is equitable so growth opportunities aren’t reserved for the “favorites” or the most vocal employees. Been there far too many times where the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
The biggest impact we have though?
Making skill growth part of the way the company runs, not just a rando project HR is working on.
🧬 We build the infrastructure and impact the DNA of every org. 🧬
From embedding learning into performance reviews, recognition programs, career paths, and even job design.
So, how do you do that??
Here’s a 5 step framework for building your infrastructure:
1️⃣ Build your skills inventory and pinpoint critical skills: Start with your general skills inventory and try to capture as much as you can across the org. Then partner with leaders to identify the top 5–7 skills the business will need in the next 6–24 months. Keep the list tied to concrete business priorities.
2️⃣ Design learning paths.Translate those skills into clear, step-by-step learning journeys for each role or career stage so employees know exactly what to learn and why. No more rando trainings that no one wants, this should be curated, intentional, and linked to career growth.
3️⃣ Choose the right tools: Select learning tech that integrates with daily workflows, supports personalization, and tracks progress in real time.
4️⃣ Build access and equity in: Offer training in multiple formats (on-demand, peer-led, micro learnings) and timeframes so location, role, or schedule don’t limit participation. The goal here is to build it into workflows so it’s not “extra” work. Everyone should have the opportunity to participate.
5️⃣ Track, reward, and refresh: Measure progress, recognize and reward skill growth, and update pathways regularly to keep pace with changes. Think about incorporating skills growth into performance reviews and celebrating newly acquired skills in all hands or company communication. Bonus if you leverage your skills inventory and known skills gaps in your hiring process to identify the profiles and roles to add to your team.
The hardest part? Some leaders and managers won’t touch reskilling until HR has the infrastructure in place. Cue that very popular saying about flying the plane while building it.
The reality is, building that infrastructure takes time and if you wait until it’s 100% done, you could be 6–12 months behind your competitors and peers. Catching up on that lost ground could feel nearly impossible!!!
HR, leaders, and managers need to work in tandem so reskilling starts now, even as the systems to support it are still being built.
In fact, make that part of your messaging… something like:
“We’re building our strategy as we go and that’s intentional. The tools, programs, and resources are coming together, but we don’t want to wait until everything is ‘perfect’ to start reskilling and preparing the organization for the future. You’ll see new opportunities pop up alongside the bigger systems we’re putting in place. The world’s changing so fast, so we’re going to learn, test, and grow together as we build the internal systems.”
This makes it super clear to employees and everyone involved, this is a group project.
The confidence gap: Copy anchor linkCopied
When HR builds strong reskilling infrastructure, everyone has the tools, access, and clarity to grow, but there’s ONE barrier that could derail it all… confidence.
Even with the right things in place, some employees will dive in while others quietly opt out, worried they’ll fail or fall behind.
Spoiler alert: that’s the confidence gap and it’s shaping your culture in real time.
Next week, I’ll talk about how to spot it, close it, and make sure every employee feels ready to take on the future.
(HUMAN) RESOURCES
- Working mothers are leaving the workforce
- AI creating new billionaires
- US consumers to feel the weight of tariffs soon
- The RTO paradox and other work trends
WORK-LIFE BALANCE
- 📚 What I’m reading: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. I DEVOURED this show! It was so funny and I loved the internal dialogue of the SecUnit. Plus Sci-fiction is one of my fave genres so it’s time to get back to that.
- 📺 What I’m watching: Project Runway: I’ve watched every single season of this show. I obsess over how they create fashion and the challenges they have to face. I’ve learned A LOT about fabric over the years from this show.
- 📷 What I’m obsessing over: I’m on the hunt for a camera I can take with me to concerts and when I’m traveling. I don’t mind editing pics! My friend gave me some recs but looking to see what y’all come up with tooo. I’m in my artsy era.
SONG OF THE WEEK
🎧 running, Maren Morris Copy anchor linkCopied
This song randomly came up on shuffle and I immediately ran to look up who produced it.
AND I WAS RIGHT.
The incredible Naomi McPherson!!! You may know them as the guitarist in Muna (one of my fave bands).
I knew from the second I heard this song that it was something that was created by one of my faves.
Didn’t have Maren Morris on my list of fave artists but that is clearly changing.
That's all for this week! I hope you enjoyed this, please let me know what you think and what other topics you'd love for me to cover. I'm allll ears.
Reminder: Take care of yourself and know that I support you.
