PODCAST: Frontline enablement - with JD Dillon.

JD Dillon brings over 20 years of experience enabling frontline workforces, from his start as a Disney cast member to roles in L&D and authoring “The Modern Learning Ecosystem”. In this wide-ranging discussion, JD shares insights on what sparked his passion for frontline training - tracing it back to the excellent onboarding he received at his first job. He discusses the pivotal role of frontline employees in executing daily operations, highlighting the opportunity for learning innovations to better support these frontline "heavy lifters". 

JD explores an overlooked burnout crisis brewing among frontline managers. He advocates innovative strategies to make these critical roles more sustainable long-term, including rethinking expectations, metrics, and development models. While corporate skills strategies can lack rigour in taxonomy and measurement, JD suggests the well-defined skills pathways common to frontline learning could inform strategies to improve development across broader employee groups. 

Drawing on concepts from his recent book, JD explains his framework for implementing disruption-ready learning ecosystems. From shared knowledge flows to performance support and reinforcement, he offers tangible examples to activate knowledge sharing across organisations. JD also prompts learning leaders to brace for AI disruption across operations - forecasting adoption timelines and inevitable workforce impacts. He recommends reskilling programs should prepare employees for how their roles will be enhanced by AI, rather than only teaching them to carry out their current duties. The focus should be on developing new capabilities that will be useful alongside AI systems. 

Throughout the discussion, JD blends strategic perspectives with tactical recommendations grounded in real frontline needs. Tune in for visionary insights from a leader dedicated to creating human-centered workforce experiences.