Learning and leadership development have become cornerstones of Gabrielle Rodman’s career, and her innovation in this area is helping transform how Dell Technologies invests in its workforce’s growth.
The HR’s Rising Star and global senior talent projects and programs lead at Dell has been influential in how the tech giant prepares for the future of work. Among her most notable contributions in her 3.5 years at Dell are the rollout of a global executive training program. The initiative involved both in-person and virtual sessions, ultimately connecting 10,000 leaders with training.
The learning initiative was, in part, designed to equip leaders with the skills to manage the influence of AI—from handling employees’ insecurities about working with the tech to adjusting to ongoing uncertainty. Rodman helped design sessions that also prepared leaders with the change management tools to align their teams with the organization’s modernization strategy.
Read more about this Rising Star: Elevating through education at Dell
Learning to boost agility for senior leaders
Rodman’s focus has also included rising leaders, such as through the design and execution of a training program for 300 high-potentials around the globe, aimed at decreasing turnover. Now, she’s setting her sights on a new training initiative: a program to drive adaptability and agility among senior leaders and managers, which she says will be key in today’s fast-changing, tech-enabled world of work.
For HR professionals who also recognize the outsized role learning and development will play in this environment, Rodman advises a strategic approach to garnering leadership buy-in for such work.
Grounding L&D proposals in data is key, as is using that data to tell a compelling story about how the learning initiative will help the organization meet critical business objectives. Getting executives involved early on can drive visibility, while HR also should incorporate the voices of employees, leveraging feedback mechanisms to shape learning program development.
See also: ‘Shaping the future of work’: Introducing HR’s Rising Stars for 2025
Rodman shares more of her insights in this video interview.
