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“People don’t care about skills...” | Genesys’ Talent Director on the Internal-First Mobility Playbook
Episode Summary
In this live episode from Workday Rising, Lisa Brockman, Talent Management Director at Genesys, pulls back the curtain on the "messy middle" of a skills transformation. After 18 months of attempting to manually identify job profile skills, Genesys hit a wall: the data lacked confidence, the process wasn’t scalable, and internal mobility was stalling because employees didn’t see a clear path forward.
Lisa explains how Genesys pivoted to an AI-driven approach with TechWolf to provide the "clean data" necessary to power Workday Career Hub. This isn't just about technology; it’s about a fundamental shift in how Genesys prepares its workforce for the AI era. By focusing on "mindset" and "creativity" alongside technical skills, Lisa is building a culture where opportunities find the employees, rather than employees having to hunt for their next move. This is a masterclass in making skills relevant to the business, not just a line item for HR.
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Key Takeaways
- Manual Taxonomies are Dead: Attempting to map skills via workshops leads to stale data and a lack of organizational confidence.
- Data Accuracy is the Engine of Adoption: Internal marketplaces like Workday Career Hub only work if the inferred skill profiles are accurate and validated.
- Skills as the "Connective Tissue": Skills are the currency that links employees to gigs, projects, and cross-functional mobility.
- The Business "So What?": Leadership doesn't care about "skills" as a concept; they care about reducing external hire costs and accelerating AI readiness.
Best Practices & Actionable Insights
- Audit Your Mobility Gaps: If employees are leaving because they "don't see a path," your internal first-look strategy is broken. Start there to build your business case.
- Identify "Change Champions": Don't let HR be the only voice. Find departments (like Customer Success) where AI is already disrupting work and let those leaders tell the story.
- Use Market Benchmarking: Compare your internal skill data against the external market to spark curiosity and urgency among business leaders.
- Focus on High-Impact Use Cases: Don't go "full Genesys" on day one. Start with one organization (e.g., Customer Success) to prove the ROI of skills-based insights.
About the Speaker: Lisa Brockman
Lisa Brockman is the Talent Management Director at Genesys, where she leads the enterprise-wide transition to a skills-based organization. With a deep focus on employee development and internal mobility, Lisa is responsible for modernizing how Genesys identifies, develops, and deploys talent in the age of AI.
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