As companies deal with the disruption on every level of their organization, learning leaders are leaning on many different tools in their toolbox to help their workforce thrive. Finding the right balance between meeting employees’ development interests and supporting ever-shifting workforce needs will be critical in the future. Biogen has many initiatives to develop its employees, including an opportunity for employees to learn new skills while supporting projects in other departments, in a page take from the gig-economy playbook. In this session, hear how Briana Snyder and her team at Biogen have partnered with business units to create opportunities to fill gaps in their workforce with qualified internal candidates. L&D has a unique perspective, in both identifying skill gaps and skills that are integral to company success. Internal candidates already embrace the company culture, and by providing them insight to short term workforce needs, they can effectively map their own development course by ‘expressing interest’ when they see a match. In this session we will examine strategies to nurture this valuable experiential learning approach, including:

• Setting expectations for all participants, including front-line managers and employees
• Creating structure without getting in the way of quick movement
• How to overcome objections within your organization