October 27, 2025 • 40 mins
We explore how agile leadership and connected HR data build sustainable high performance. Noelle London of Illoominus shares why mindset outperforms credentials, how retention powers revenue, and practical steps to turn fragmented systems into clear people insights.
• leadership agility amid rapid workplace change
• connecting HRIS, talent acquisition, engagement, performance and pay
• overlooked basics and data quality foundations
• reducing turnover in frontline-heavy industries
• hiring for mindset, curiosity and problem solving
• balancing accountability with humanity to avoid burnout
• Moneyball approach to team and org health
• career journey mapping and better succession planning
• progress over perfection and building data literacy
• peer community for people leaders and AI-focused sessions
Our next one is actually going to be on AI and automation the first week in June. If anybody's interested, reach out to Noelle at Noelle@Illoominus.com. We’ll add links in the show notes.
Connect with Ron
Just Make A Difference: Leading Under Pressure by Ron Harvey
“If you don’t have something to measure your growth, you won’t be self-aware or intentional about your growth.”
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The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any organization or entity. The information provided in this podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice. Listeners should consult with their own professional advisors before implementing any suggestions or recommendations made in this podcast. The speakers and guests are not responsible for any actions taken by listeners based on the information presented in this podcast. The podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice or services. The speakers and guests make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the information, products, services, or related graphics contained in this ...
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to Unpack Podcast with your host,
Leadership Consultant, RonHarvey of Global Core Strategies
and Consulting.
Ron believes that leadership isthe fundamental driver towards
making a difference.
So now, to find out more of whatit means to unpack leadership,
here's your host, Ron Harvey.
SPEAKER_01 (00:20):
Good afternoon.
This is Ron Harvey.
I'm the Vice President and theChief Operating Officer for
Global Core Strategies andConsulting, which is a
professional leadershipdevelopment firm.
We're based out of Columbia,South Carolina.
In a nutshell, our company andorganization, we thrive off of
helping leaders be betterdeveloped so they can take care
of the people that they'reresponsible to and responsible
for.
We love helping you just becomesmartest leaders.
(00:41):
Most of our leaders aretechnically good, they've risen
through the ranks, but thatpeople part of it can be a
challenge.
And so how do you do thateffectively and take care of
your workforce with so muchhappening in the workforce, so
many generations?
The power shift has changedacross all organizations, and we
want you to be successful.
So we talk about how you do thateffectively without losing your
mind over it.
And so we are excited.
(01:01):
But today is really not aboutglobal core, which you know, I
want you to know who we are, butI want our guests to have a
phenomenal time talking to you.
And so we unpack, we have realconversations, don't know the
questions yet.
We'll talk about leadership.
I can't tell you what I'm goingto ask next once Noelle gets
started.
And so what I want to do isinvite her in and let her
introduce herself, and thenwe'll dive in and have some fun
with you and share somethingthat may be super helpful for
(01:23):
you.
So pull out your pen, your pad,your tablet, or how would you
capture notes and capture somestuff that we plan to drop some
important data that'll behelpful for you as a leader.
Noelle, let me get out of theway and hand it over to you.
SPEAKER_02 (01:34):
Amazing, Ron.
Thanks so much for having me.
Uh my name is Noelle London.
I'm the founder and CEO ofIlluminous.
Um, I'll tell you a little bitmore about what we do, but um,
based in Atlanta, Georgia, andthat's where I'm calling in from
today.
SPEAKER_01 (01:49):
Yes, yes.
Thank you.
Appreciate it.
Noel, I'm excited to have youhere.
And we spend a lot of timearound leadership, and of
course, we know that things havechanged and you're in the people
space and you're figuring it outand you've learned some things.
But I my first question I wouldlike to do is you've you've led
through this intersection ofinnovation, entrepreneurship,
and data, you know, looking atyour research and then doing
everything before you come on.
So the team shares.
(02:10):
How has leadership evolved um asyou've transitioned over time?
SPEAKER_02 (02:15):
How has leadership evolved as I transition over
time?
Wow, Ron, um, that's a big, abig old question.
SPEAKER_01 (02:24):
Um, let me like came right out the gate with a big
question.
I love that.
SPEAKER_02 (02:28):
I love that coming in hot.
Um, well, yeah, first let metell you a little bit about um
what we do at Illuminous, andthen yeah, would be happy to
talk a little bit aboutleadership changes over time.
Um, so as I mentioned, I'm thefounder and CEO of Illuminous.
At Illuminous, we are a turnkeypeople insights platform that
(02:49):
essentially sits on top ofdisparate HR tech stacks.
We bring that data together tomap out the entire employee
journey, and we're helpingorganizations to understand how
they're comparing relative totheir peers so that they're
better equipped to makestrategic and dynamic business
decisions.
Um, you mentioned Ron, um, youknow, I've sat at the
(03:11):
intersection for quite some timebetween innovation, um, new and
emerging technology companies,um, and data as well.
Um, you know, most recentlybefore I launched Illuminous, I
was in the corporate innovationspace.
I was at a very large companynamed uh Accenture and helping
(03:33):
them as well as their clients toselect technology that help to
usher in future of work and helpto better support employees.
I would say, Ron, you know,leadership.
Why I said, wow, that's a reallybig question, is because I even
think about the last five yearsor so since 2020 and just the
(03:58):
evolution of what leadership hasmeant.
What I will say in terms ofevolution of leadership is that
we're in just absolutelyunprecedented change.
And organizations and leadersare having to step up to support
their people, but they're havingto do it at just this
(04:20):
unbelievable pace.
Um, so even when I thinksometimes I look at um, and I'll
put up a chart um at times whenI'm having conversations where
I'll say, look at all of thesemajor, major events that have
happened since 2020.
Um, look at, you know, murder ofGeorge Floyd, Brianna Taylor,
(04:43):
others, look at return to workpolicies, look at work from home
policies.
It's just this massive amount ofshifts.
And so when I think about howleadership's changing, I'm
seeing just the velocity ofchange and the need for leaders
to be able to be agile andflexible through that change.
(05:07):
Um, because we're just seeing somany differences within the
workplace, global events, andhow am I supporting my employees
through these massive events?
Um, and so I think that's kindof what I've seen is it's less
about this like growth into aleadership position, but those
(05:28):
leaders that can be mostadaptable through this change,
those are the leaders that um atleast I've been looking to on,
you know, how are theynavigating the change and really
helping their teams around themto navigate that change?
Um, that means, you know, thingslike the role of communication
(05:52):
and and like being able to benimble on communication, being
able to create just such a highlevel of trust of, hey, we know
things that are changing so mucharound us, but these are the key
priorities and things that we'rereally focused on, those leaders
(06:12):
that can keep their teamsfocused as they're all
navigating that level of change.
Um, that seems to be to mewhat's been really remarkable
about those shifts in the lastfive years.
SPEAKER_01 (06:26):
Wow.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I mean, I could say a bigquestion coming in and a great,
great explanation of yourorganization, what you do and
the changes that you'renoticing.
Been the fact that you helporganizations make better
decisions um strategically basedoff of data.
unknown (06:42):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (06:43):
What data do you feel like like workplace, you
know, within the workplace?
What data do you think leadersare overlooking the most?
SPEAKER_02 (06:49):
Yeah, what's really interesting, Ron, is that I
think like there's so manydifferent solutions that are
within the market, and there's alot of noise because people,
there's a lot of noise in themarket on you know, HR
technology, future of worktechnology, because people see
that there's a need for it,right?
(07:11):
What I think that's reallyinteresting is as we talk to
organizations, you know,sometimes there's these really
interesting bells and whistles.
Like when I was back atAccenture, we had this really
interesting partner that wasworking on AI upskilling and
reskilling.
Okay, that's super interesting,especially as we think about the
(07:34):
changing skill sets needed withAI and automation.
But at the same time, if thatdata is not talking to your
other data and your othersystems, it's an interesting
data point, but it's really notgiving us that whole picture.
And so to me, what I see mostoften is that it's really that
(07:58):
the basics are not being used totheir full potential.
So typically, um, and you know,there's a study that I follow
called Sapient Insights Group.
Um, Stacy Harris is great umresearch.
And, you know, I'm seeing thateven the number of systems and
tools is increasing year overyear.
(08:19):
At one point, that was like 16different systems just to manage
HR, and those numbers are onlyincreasing.
But even if we look at what wecall critical HR tech stack, the
four basics we think about, likean HRAS system, a talent
acquisition system, employeeengagement, and performance and
(08:40):
pay.
Even if we were able to connectthose four systems, which is
what we do within Illuminous,what that allows us to do is
have metrics from higher tofire.
What we can then map is not, youknow, hey, let me look at um how
many people started and quitlast year.
(09:02):
What it then becomes is can Iunderstand somebody's journey
and experience while they'reworking within my organization?
No longer, and as we think abouthow roles are continuing to
shift for organizations, it's nolonger I'm hiring Noelle for
this job.
(09:22):
I'm hiring Noelle because she'sgot the skill sets for this job
that I need right now.
But I probably need somethingdifferent in 18 to 24 months.
And is Noelle the right personto go and fill that role and
that job?
The way that our systems are setup today within organizations,
(09:43):
it's really hard, if notimpossible, to be able to track
that entire journey through anorganization.
And so that's the thing that weget really interested and
excited about is even with thebasics that you've got, how do
we actually unlock those so thatyou have a better understanding
(10:05):
of what's happening with youremployees within the
organization?
It's not enough to just look ata data point of who got
promoted.
It's can we look at everythingholistically and say, you know,
did Noelle get promoted or didRon get promoted?
But more can we start looking athow do we bring that performance
(10:27):
data next to engagement data,next to understanding how
somebody's been moving, how longhave they been in a role before
they've been given newresponsibilities?
Those are the kinds of thingsthat um there's so much more we
can even do with whatorganizations already have.
And I think that's the realopportunity uh that really
(10:49):
excites us.
SPEAKER_01 (10:51):
Wow, phenomenal.
I love it.
I mean, because we're in thewe're in the people business and
you know, people you know are avaluable commodity, but also
it's a um, I tell people it'salso one of those things that
that can cause chaos inorganizations.
Right.
When you when you're looking atthe data points and you're
looking at the holistic view ofthe work that you do, do you
have what's the value of like soorganizations are listening on
(11:14):
here now that that are inexactly where you are, what's
the value of using yourorganization Luminous to help
them figure out because there'speople losing jobs, turnovers
high, people nervous inorganization anxiety.
I mean, we're at a time thatwe've never been at before in my
lifetime.
What's the value of using thethe work that you do to help
help organizations figure itout?
How to get a better workplace?
SPEAKER_02 (11:35):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, I think that part of it iswhen we think about the ways
it's I I think you know, longstory short, what it is is
better understand who yourexisting employees are and how
to best support them for them todo the best work of their lives.
(11:57):
And what I mean by that is liketypically when we think about an
HR organization, you know, tonobody's fault, the organization
can be very siloed because HRdoes a whole lot of different
things, right?
It's not this like simple HRmeans X.
(12:17):
HR is touching every part ofyour employees' experience.
And so what that means is thatsometimes we've had siloed HR
organizations where there aredifferent individuals within the
organization that potentiallyeven have conflicting
(12:38):
incentives.
So, what I mean by that is thinkabout a talent acquisition
leader and think about arecruiter.
Oftentimes, some of the goalsthat are set for that individual
are time to hire, number ofroles filled.
But when we're always thinkingabout net new, we're sometimes
(13:00):
forgetting to look at ourexisting employees.
And so, with that, I think, youknow, an example and value of
what kind of how to paint thepicture of why focusing on
retaining is so important, isthat there's an example of um,
you know, we've been workingwith a retailer.
(13:22):
When you think about industrieslike retail, like hospitality,
they're immensely important toour country.
I mean, huge employers.
They also typically have some ofthe highest turnover rates,
where it's not um, you know,some retailers like sea stores
(13:43):
are experiencing 200% turnoverper year of their employees in
stores.
And that is not uncommon.
And so if we think about that,if you are spending these HR
teams are absolutely underwaterbecause they're trying to fill
(14:04):
roles to keep the lights on, tokeep the gas station open,
right?
I remember during COVID times,maybe some of you experience you
got to stop to go to therestroom and McDonald's is
closed because they don't haveenough people to staff the
store.
Yes.
And so if all of our budgetretention for a retailer is
(14:25):
anticipated to be about three,is anticipated to improve uh
store sales by about 3% ofrevenue a year.
Uh, and so if we think aboutturnover to, let's say, a$2
billion organization, we'retalking about$100 million in
(14:47):
loss due to turnover cost,because it is more expensive to
rehire somebody than it is tohire somebody new.
And if we put the incentives oftalent acquisition as not
thinking about internal mobilityand talent management and talent
acquisition aren't workingtogether, what that means is
(15:10):
that you're on your back footbecause you gotta hire for these
roles.
They're empty.
And it's actually costing youmore than if we were able to
listen to our employees tounderstand why those individuals
might be leading, then thatactually saves the organization
dollars and the employee feelsmore supported and happier, and
(15:35):
that is really a win-win.
Um, and so that's really when wethink about um, you know, you
know, what the opportunity is,especially as we look at a
number of these frontline heavyindustries.
I think that's the thing that wesee as just such an enormous
(15:57):
opportunity.
And we're able to unlock so muchmore information if we're
connecting these systems so thatwe're looking at the whole
picture and the whole story andthe HRs all running in the same
direction instead of potentiallyhaving some of these um
competing incentives.
SPEAKER_01 (16:19):
Yes, thank you.
And you watch it happen inorganizations every day.
So being that you you've built,you know, you've been internal,
now you're external, you'reyou're entrepreneur and
successful at what you're doing.
Are there any lessons that thathave helped shape how how your
organization helped you knowbuild and empower, you know,
high-performing teams?
What are some lessons you'velearned that that allow you to
do really, really good at thework you do?
SPEAKER_02 (16:41):
Man, I tell you, I've learned a whole lot of
lessons um along the way.
Um, I will say that's probablyone of my favorite parts of
being an entrepreneur is justthe you know personal growth um
side of this.
You know, I've I've learned alot along the way.
I've got a whole lot more tolearn um along the way as well.
(17:03):
But I think what has been reallyimportant is um making sure, and
it's also such a blessing, and Ifeel so fortunate to be able to,
you know, co-create values andbehaviors alongside my team.
(17:23):
And, you know, it's hard tobuild a company, and you're told
no most of the time.
Um, but you also, it's such ablessing to be able to say at
the end of the day, you know, wewere told no a whole lot today,
but these are the things thatreally matter to the us.
(17:43):
This is why we're building thiscompany, this is what motivates
us.
And, you know, one of those kindof key things is, you know,
getting to say these are thefive-ish behaviors or so that
are really important to us.
And one of them that, you know,I've really learned a whole lot
along the way is just theimportance of mindset as a part
(18:05):
of every single person's job.
So to me, you know, that's whatI look for when I'm building my
team, when I'm, you know,working with my team.
It's about their growth mindset.
We've got individuals that, youknow, they run marathons, they
run ultra marathons and areextreme athletes on our team.
(18:30):
Um, they're all kind of comingwith this piece of they're do,
they're doing things thatthey're they've been told are
impossible to do and to achieve.
And I think that that's really,you know, there's a lot of I've
hired for industry on our team.
I've hired from individuals thathave built unicorn companies on
(18:53):
our team, and all of them havebeen, you know, great
contributors um for what weneeded, but it's not that.
That background, I don't think,is what I get as excited about.
The thing I get excited aboutand that I look for is really
that mindset.
Um, and how do we tap into thatand how do we cultivate that?
(19:17):
And I would say that's probablyone of the biggest contributors
on performance.
SPEAKER_01 (19:22):
Wow.
Which is amazing.
I mean, so as as people arelistening, you think about the
mindset piece of it becauseoftentimes we're always looking
for skill set, not mindset.
Um, you know, as you're hiring.
And do you have so have you inthe time that you've been doing
it, do you have data points thatshow how do you define or what
do you look for when you say inmindset?
How do you help the people thatare listening?
What are they looking for whenthey say mindset?
(19:43):
What does it mean to me?
SPEAKER_02 (19:44):
Yeah, I I think um, yeah, and I mean to me, I it's
interesting.
I um I just hired someone that'scoming onto our team that I'm
really excited about.
And, you know, he spent he spent10 years in the military and was
working on submarines and fixingsubmarines.
(20:05):
And, you know, we were talkingabout, you know, he's got a
non-traditional background, he'sgraduating from school actually
this week.
And, you know, he said, well, Idon't know how to do some of
those things.
You know, when I was saying thisis what the role looks like and
this is what it entails.
And I said, I don't care if youknow how to do them.
(20:27):
I can teach you and you canteach yourself.
What I care about is thecuriosity, the hunger to learn,
the dedication to the problemthat we're solving and to our
team.
And, you know, there's a lot ofthings out there where the first
thing I asked him, he's he'sbuilt a leather company.
(20:50):
Um, Marcus has, and I asked him,like, tell me about what you're
good at and what you're not goodat.
And at first he said,procurement.
And I was like, that's a badanswer.
You know, like I that's a badanswer.
Like, we're not a we're asoftware company, we're not a
products company.
But then what I actually heardhim say is he said, no, I go to
(21:11):
Italy and I procure leather fromthis company, from this Italian
family.
And I don't know Italian.
And so I show up with GoogleTranslate on my phone, and
that's how I'm communicatingback and forth.
And I said, Oh, what you meanisn't procurement?
It's hustle, it's figuring itout, it's problem solving.
(21:35):
And that is that is the mostunderrated skills, I believe, is
the problem solving bit.
You know, like if you're aproblem solving, he he said, I
don't know marketing, but I justwent into Chat GPT and taught
myself what SEO is and puttogether a plan for six weeks on
(21:58):
what SEO is.
And I was like, that is it.
That's I don't care if you knowwhat SEO is, I care that you
know how to go and find theanswer.
SPEAKER_01 (22:07):
Yes, I love and for for people that are listening, I
mean that's phenomenal becausethat's kind of where we are.
You know, uh, if you built yourbusiness to just be sustainable,
that changes minute by minutenow.
And so you got to be adaptableevery day in order for you to be
around.
So when you think of the leaderstoday and the data that you're
sharing with them, Noelle, whatare there any things that are
showing up that that makeleaders like casteristics or
(22:30):
traits that will be helpfulafter they get the information
that you share?
What are the things that areshowing up that they kind of got
to bring to the table as far astraits or characteristics?
SPEAKER_02 (22:40):
Um, in terms of how they're successful within our
platform and within our tool.
SPEAKER_04 (22:45):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (22:46):
Um, yeah, I mean, it's not the the thing that I
really noticed, Ron, when I wasstarting a Luminous, is you
know, the products that werepeople analytics has been this
field that's really emerged in awhole it's been around for a
long time, but it's a fieldthat's really emerged in an
(23:09):
entirely new way since 2021because it was this like
re-emergence was born out ofthere is so much change
happening in the workforce andwhat is happening and how do we
manage it and deal with it.
And so, you know, I think thisfield's been around for a while,
but at the time, I mean, and welaunched, you know, pretty much
(23:32):
right after um that.
But when I was starting to kindof see these market signals and
where there was a gap forleaders, what I saw within the
market is that the peopleanalytics solutions that existed
were really catered towards thatPhD in data science, that people
(23:55):
analytics leader andorganizations that, you know,
the Coca-Cola's of the worldthat have 300,000 employees,
they can afford thoseindividuals to come and work
within their organization.
But the reality is that 90% ofthe rest of companies are never
going to be able to afford thattype of capability on their
(24:18):
team.
And so that's really where youknow we saw the opportunity is
how do we bring the level ofdata and insights that are
needed for organizations thatcan't afford to hire up an
entire team to be specialistwithin this, because every
company needs the data to beable to make better decisions,
(24:41):
but they might not know how tocode SQL or how to build a
predictive forecast.
And so essentially what we sawis within these middle market
companies, think like 15,000employees or less, those
organizations need the data.
They may not be specialists indata.
So, how do we bring them thatdata in an accessible, easy to
(25:04):
understand way?
And so, you know, to takeadvantage, and sorry for the
long-winded answer there, but totake advantage of Illuminus, I
don't think that you need, youknow, a specialization in data
science.
I don't think that you need acertification in people
analytics.
What I will say, folks that aremost successful within the
(25:28):
platform, they're data-drivenindividuals.
They are on, they either lead orare on teams where data is an
expectation within theorganization.
So we make decisions because wehave the data that helps us make
that decision.
So more than anything, I wouldsay maybe to like pull out of
(25:52):
the hat that I was just talkingabout, I think it's probably
more of a mindset more thananything.
We don't need to have those dataskills.
Um, we don't need to have, youknow, we kind of help with the
data literacy and the datafluency.
Um, but it more than anything,it's hey, I have a desire to
(26:13):
lead or be on a team that isdata driven.
Um, and I've got leadership thatis supporting me on, you know,
wanting me to come to them withdata to help inform people,
employee-related decisions.
SPEAKER_01 (26:33):
Thank you.
Thank you for the response.
The the question that's comingto mind, um, you shared a lot of
great information um for leadersthat are that are listening.
When you think how fast we'removing, things are changing
constantly, and there's a highexpectation on levers on leaders
to to deliver consistently.
SPEAKER_04 (26:50):
Yep.
SPEAKER_01 (26:50):
But there's also this balance of uh taking care
of people while getting resultsdone.
What's showing up as you do thedata and you and you work with
organizations to make them makestrategic decisions, how to be
human but hold peopleaccountable and create the
workforce that's going to be youknow agile, if you will, moving
forward?
SPEAKER_02 (27:08):
Yeah, it's a really good question.
And I do think that it is a verydelicate balance.
Um, I will say that, you know,even in the last couple of
years, the emphasis more andmore as we talk to
organizations, the questionthey're trying to unlock and to
(27:28):
answer is how do I build a highperformance team?
SPEAKER_04 (27:32):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (27:32):
They may have looked at, you know, employee
engagement surveys before.
They may have looked at, youknow, turnover and attrition
numbers before.
What they're really trying tounderstand now is this question
around performance.
SPEAKER_04 (27:49):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (27:50):
Um, so I think that there is an you know as we look
at, you know, the employeeexperience, we may, you know, I
hear from friends of mine thatare at organizations of just
more and more expectations thatare being placed on fewer and
(28:11):
fewer people.
Um high performance isimportant, but sustainable high
performance is important.
And so that's where I think umit's not just about performance
per for performance sake, it'sabout being able to look at this
data holistically to be able tounderstand, you know, are we at
(28:34):
risk of burnout here?
Um, so if we can look at, youknow, many of you have heard of
money ball and you know, thinkabout money ball, like that's
kind of the end goal, right?
Is like how organizationsthemselves haven't really had
good data to understand whatworks in creating high
(28:54):
performance previously.
That's why we exist, is toreally be able to answer that
question like, what are all ofthe inputs?
What are we learning about whatit takes to build a high
performing individual withinyour organization?
And what that means is beingable to look at various
different data points togetherso that you have good context.
(29:18):
It's not enough to say, issomebody, if we're looking at a
nine box, is somebody like upperright hand quadrant.
What we want to be able to sayis can I look at this
individual?
Can I look at a team?
Can I look at an organization?
And am I understanding who hashigh performers with lower
(29:39):
turnover, with higherengagement, with longer 10 years
where I'm seeing opportunitiesfor internal mobility underneath
those leaders?
It's not just a upper rightquadrant.
It's is my organization healthy?
unknown (29:57):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (29:58):
And I think that's kind.
Of the shift of you know when westart looking at the data points
together, so we're looking atthis holistically, it's not just
performance numbers, it's am Icultivating a strong, healthy
organization that is going tocontinue to be able to drive
(30:20):
high performance for me?
SPEAKER_01 (30:22):
Yes, yes.
As you look at it, and all thedata you pull and programming or
in the work that Luminous isdoing, does it cater to or
support um as the work that wedo is helping teams you know
develop secession plans acrossthe board?
Is there an opportunity forhelping because a lot of
organizations are not doing realwell at secession planning, it's
changing so fast, people areretiring.
There's a lot of factors to tocontribute to that.
(30:44):
But at the end of the day, theystill have to put secession
plan.
Is is the program and the workthat you're doing help
organizations do that moreeffectively?
SPEAKER_02 (30:52):
Yeah, I absolutely believe so.
Um we recently um partnered withan organization um that does
technology across the state ofGeorgia and as an association.
We partnered with them to run asuccession planning course.
And I think that thosecomponents that I was just
(31:13):
sharing with you around theemployee journey is absolutely
key.
So, you know, we work with, Iwas mentioning a retailer
earlier, and there's a lot ofreally great anecdotes, I'll
say, about how somebody growsfrom a store position into
(31:36):
corporate and grows into aleader position.
You have all kinds of reallyinteresting cases where this has
happened within retail, um, fromNike to Kava to um, you know,
Kroger or others.
What we don't have often readilyavailable is the actual data
(31:57):
that helps us understand whathappened and why it happened by
us being able to connect thedots so that we can have data
around career journeys to say,you know, typically we're
noticing that a high potentialperson that's starting in the
store is there for X amount ofyears.
(32:18):
And then typically this is whattheir journey looks like.
When we can start to pull thatdata together and to map it,
what that allows us to do is toactually understand what those
journeys look like, but to beable to communicate back to
employees what those journeyslook like so that they
understand what the journey andthe opportunity is to stay
(32:41):
within the organization and growthere.
Um, so yes, I absolutely thinkthat um it's an important
component to the overallsuccession planning conversation
um with what we do withproviding the data around those
career journeys.
SPEAKER_01 (32:59):
Well, love it.
I mean, phenomenal.
I mean, I think you answered alot of the questions and helped
people that are listening figureout the importance of data, you
know, that to help makestrategic decisions, decisions
that make sense, that's costeffective.
You know, so thank you for that.
So as we begin to look at timeand and wind it down for our
listeners, out of everythingthat you shared, you know, um a
ton of information, are theretwo to three takeaways that that
(33:23):
you share um about whether youknow your organization, how you
help, or things that you'renoticing that you can, you know,
unpack a little bit, you know,as we close out.
What would you share your topthree things that you hope they
walk away from this conversationwith?
SPEAKER_02 (33:35):
Yeah, um, I would say, you know, maybe starting
with the first one, just becauseI mentioned mindset a couple of
times.
And, you know, maybe that's thatwould be kind of the thing that
I would encourage listeners morethan anything, is um sometimes I
think that there's a desire forperfection.
(33:56):
Um data is not um going to beperfect, it's going to need
help, it's gonna need um, it'sgonna need to be improved.
And so sometimes we get the,hey, I don't know if I'm ready
yet, because I don't know if mydata is in a place yet where I'm
ready to be able to do this,even though I want to.
(34:18):
And so I would just reallyencourage progress over
perfection.
I think that when we look atmaturity in data in
organizations, it's really funnybecause some organizations think
there's they're so much furtherahead than they actually are.
And then a lot of organizationsthink they're so much worse off
than they actually are.
(34:39):
We actually see a whole lot ofmeeting in the middle.
And so that's kind of where Iwould um encourage folks to get
started because things aremoving really fast.
You don't want to miss theopportunity to really be able to
streamline some of theseworkflows and take advantage of
(35:02):
the technology that's comingout.
And so, even if you're not readyto leverage all the AI tools
yet, you'll need to at somepoint.
And so it's good to startgetting comfortable um with the
data and improving the overalldata foundation.
There are easy things you cando, like remove duplicates,
remove typos, just get in thereand like improve the overall
(35:25):
data quality because that'sreally gonna put you ahead.
Um, and I'd love to, you know,talk to anybody that's
interested in that.
Um, and then the second thing Iwould say is um, you know, if
anyone is interested,everybody's trying to figure
this out.
(35:45):
Um, nobody has the answers yet,and that's okay.
Um, we launched a community ofpeople leaders um that we get
together regularly to share bestpractices, um, you know, come
with uh tactics and strategiesthat you're using and sharing
those openly with the rest ofthe group.
(36:06):
Um, our next one is actuallygoing to be on AI and automation
the first week in June.
And so if anybody's interested,um again, I would say reach out
to me and I would love to getyou signed up so that you have a
group of other leaders that youcan go to to ask questions of,
to share best practices with.
Um, those would probably be mytwo um kind of pieces of advice.
(36:30):
Find a community of folks aroundyou that can help you as you're
um, you know, improving yourcraft in this area.
Um, but also um don't hesitateon just going ahead and getting
started in some ways.
Um, and then the third thing Iwould just say is um, you know,
for anybody that's interested,would love to tell you a little
(36:50):
bit more, Ron, maybe if youcould uh add our link into the
show notes um or my LinkedIn.
Um, you know, we are oftentimesputting out things like
newsletters with resources thatmay be able to help you through
this journey as well.
So um would love to get you allplugged in and uh continue the
conversation.
SPEAKER_01 (37:10):
Yes, yes, and we definitely will.
We'll have all your contactinformation on the show notes
and people can reach out and andphenomenal information.
I think it's the way that we'regoing, no data is gonna be, you
know, I tell I guess what Ialways tell people, um, didn't
even though I was you knowhaving you on the show, but I
tell people data drives dollarsand decisions.
SPEAKER_03 (37:28):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (37:29):
Yeah, people people go back and look at data, decide
where they're gonna spend andwhat decisions they're gonna
make.
So it's important for all of us.
And I love that you said ifyou're not comfortable with it,
just get started and get betterat it.
You know, so don't run away fromit.
And if you're not using it now,you eventually will have to.
So I love that you said justjust learn it.
Um, put yourself in thecommunity and and go and learn
it because at some point, ifyou're not using it, we all will
(37:49):
be using it.
Um, so I love that you gave thatpointer at the end.
Um, and for everyone that'slistening, you know, hopefully
that the information that Noelleshared, you understand it.
Um Noelle, is there a way forpeople to reach out to you?
Is there a LinkedIn or anythingyou want to share as far as how
people contact you?
We'll put it in the show notes.
Do you want to say it before wewe wrap up our session here
today?
SPEAKER_02 (38:07):
Yeah, sure.
So um feel free to reach out tome, Noel N O E L L E at
Illuminous.
And I'm gonna do a spelling Bfor Illuminous.
Um, so it's my full email isgonna be Noelle N O E L L E at
Illuminous, I L L O O M I N U Sdot com.
Um, feel free to reach out.
(38:28):
And I love that um you said thatabout dollars and cents, Ron.
What I'll leave you with is yourpeople, your employee headcount
is your most expensive part ofthe entire organization.
And the vast majority oforganizations don't understand
what's happening with theirpeople.
So talk about dollars and centsand really way to make an impact
(38:50):
on your organization is to havethe data around your people.
SPEAKER_01 (38:54):
Wow, that's a microphone.
You know, so for all of you thatare with us, you know, she ended
it on a really, really greatnote.
Um, thank y'all for joining uson the podcast.
We hope that you share it withothers and you come back again.
We're always looking for gueststhat have value to add to our
audience.
You know, I think we're we'rebecoming an ecosystem across the
board.
Technology allows us to helpeach other, share with each
other, reach out to each other,and support each other's
businesses.
(39:15):
Both of us are our businessowners.
We'd love to have an opportunityto have a conversation with you.
So feel free to reach out toeither one of us at any time.
And if you don't get theinformation, reach out to me and
I'll share it with you on everyguest that we always have.
Our goal is to add value to whatyou're doing.
Uh, we're not here to sell youanything, but we're definitely
here to serve if serve andprovide a service if we can
solve a problem for you.
(39:35):
So thank you again, share itwith everyone.
And until next time, Noelle andI will sign off and tell you
have a phenomenal day.
SPEAKER_00 (39:42):
Well, we hope you enjoyed this edition of Unpack
Podcast with leadershipconsultant Ron Harvey.
Remember to join us every Mondayas Ron Unpacks Sound Advice,
providing real answers for realleadership challenges.
Until next time, remember to addvalue and make a difference
where you are or the people youserve.
(40:04):
Because people always matter.
Welcome to Unpack Podcast with your host,
Leadership Consultant, RonHarvey of Global Core Strategies
and Consulting.
Ron believes that leadership isthe fundamental driver towards
making a difference.
So now, to find out more of whatit means to unpack leadership,
here's your host, Ron Harvey.
SPEAKER_01 (00:20):
Good afternoon.
This is Ron Harvey.
I'm the Vice President and theChief Operating Officer for
Global Core Strategies andConsulting, which is a
professional leadershipdevelopment firm.
We're based out of Columbia,South Carolina.
In a nutshell, our company andorganization, we thrive off of
helping leaders be betterdeveloped so they can take care
of the people that they'reresponsible to and responsible
for.
We love helping you just becomesmartest leaders.
(00:41):
Most of our leaders aretechnically good, they've risen
through the ranks, but thatpeople part of it can be a
challenge.
And so how do you do thateffectively and take care of
your workforce with so muchhappening in the workforce, so
many generations?
The power shift has changedacross all organizations, and we
want you to be successful.
So we talk about how you do thateffectively without losing your
mind over it.
And so we are excited.
(01:01):
But today is really not aboutglobal core, which you know, I
want you to know who we are, butI want our guests to have a
phenomenal time talking to you.
And so we unpack, we have realconversations, don't know the
questions yet.
We'll talk about leadership.
I can't tell you what I'm goingto ask next once Noelle gets
started.
And so what I want to do isinvite her in and let her
introduce herself, and thenwe'll dive in and have some fun
with you and share somethingthat may be super helpful for
(01:23):
you.
So pull out your pen, your pad,your tablet, or how would you
capture notes and capture somestuff that we plan to drop some
important data that'll behelpful for you as a leader.
Noelle, let me get out of theway and hand it over to you.
SPEAKER_02 (01:34):
Amazing, Ron.
Thanks so much for having me.
Uh my name is Noelle London.
I'm the founder and CEO ofIlluminous.
Um, I'll tell you a little bitmore about what we do, but um,
based in Atlanta, Georgia, andthat's where I'm calling in from
today.
SPEAKER_01 (01:49):
Yes, yes.
Thank you.
Appreciate it.
Noel, I'm excited to have youhere.
And we spend a lot of timearound leadership, and of
course, we know that things havechanged and you're in the people
space and you're figuring it outand you've learned some things.
But I my first question I wouldlike to do is you've you've led
through this intersection ofinnovation, entrepreneurship,
and data, you know, looking atyour research and then doing
everything before you come on.
So the team shares.
(02:10):
How has leadership evolved um asyou've transitioned over time?
SPEAKER_02 (02:15):
How has leadership evolved as I transition over
time?
Wow, Ron, um, that's a big, abig old question.
SPEAKER_01 (02:24):
Um, let me like came right out the gate with a big
question.
I love that.
SPEAKER_02 (02:28):
I love that coming in hot.
Um, well, yeah, first let metell you a little bit about um
what we do at Illuminous, andthen yeah, would be happy to
talk a little bit aboutleadership changes over time.
Um, so as I mentioned, I'm thefounder and CEO of Illuminous.
At Illuminous, we are a turnkeypeople insights platform that
(02:49):
essentially sits on top ofdisparate HR tech stacks.
We bring that data together tomap out the entire employee
journey, and we're helpingorganizations to understand how
they're comparing relative totheir peers so that they're
better equipped to makestrategic and dynamic business
decisions.
Um, you mentioned Ron, um, youknow, I've sat at the
(03:11):
intersection for quite some timebetween innovation, um, new and
emerging technology companies,um, and data as well.
Um, you know, most recentlybefore I launched Illuminous, I
was in the corporate innovationspace.
I was at a very large companynamed uh Accenture and helping
(03:33):
them as well as their clients toselect technology that help to
usher in future of work and helpto better support employees.
I would say, Ron, you know,leadership.
Why I said, wow, that's a reallybig question, is because I even
think about the last five yearsor so since 2020 and just the
(03:58):
evolution of what leadership hasmeant.
What I will say in terms ofevolution of leadership is that
we're in just absolutelyunprecedented change.
And organizations and leadersare having to step up to support
their people, but they're havingto do it at just this
(04:20):
unbelievable pace.
Um, so even when I thinksometimes I look at um, and I'll
put up a chart um at times whenI'm having conversations where
I'll say, look at all of thesemajor, major events that have
happened since 2020.
Um, look at, you know, murder ofGeorge Floyd, Brianna Taylor,
(04:43):
others, look at return to workpolicies, look at work from home
policies.
It's just this massive amount ofshifts.
And so when I think about howleadership's changing, I'm
seeing just the velocity ofchange and the need for leaders
to be able to be agile andflexible through that change.
(05:07):
Um, because we're just seeing somany differences within the
workplace, global events, andhow am I supporting my employees
through these massive events?
Um, and so I think that's kindof what I've seen is it's less
about this like growth into aleadership position, but those
(05:28):
leaders that can be mostadaptable through this change,
those are the leaders that um atleast I've been looking to on,
you know, how are theynavigating the change and really
helping their teams around themto navigate that change?
Um, that means, you know, thingslike the role of communication
(05:52):
and and like being able to benimble on communication, being
able to create just such a highlevel of trust of, hey, we know
things that are changing so mucharound us, but these are the key
priorities and things that we'rereally focused on, those leaders
(06:12):
that can keep their teamsfocused as they're all
navigating that level of change.
Um, that seems to be to mewhat's been really remarkable
about those shifts in the lastfive years.
SPEAKER_01 (06:26):
Wow.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I mean, I could say a bigquestion coming in and a great,
great explanation of yourorganization, what you do and
the changes that you'renoticing.
Been the fact that you helporganizations make better
decisions um strategically basedoff of data.
unknown (06:42):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (06:43):
What data do you feel like like workplace, you
know, within the workplace?
What data do you think leadersare overlooking the most?
SPEAKER_02 (06:49):
Yeah, what's really interesting, Ron, is that I
think like there's so manydifferent solutions that are
within the market, and there's alot of noise because people,
there's a lot of noise in themarket on you know, HR
technology, future of worktechnology, because people see
that there's a need for it,right?
(07:11):
What I think that's reallyinteresting is as we talk to
organizations, you know,sometimes there's these really
interesting bells and whistles.
Like when I was back atAccenture, we had this really
interesting partner that wasworking on AI upskilling and
reskilling.
Okay, that's super interesting,especially as we think about the
(07:34):
changing skill sets needed withAI and automation.
But at the same time, if thatdata is not talking to your
other data and your othersystems, it's an interesting
data point, but it's really notgiving us that whole picture.
And so to me, what I see mostoften is that it's really that
(07:58):
the basics are not being used totheir full potential.
So typically, um, and you know,there's a study that I follow
called Sapient Insights Group.
Um, Stacy Harris is great umresearch.
And, you know, I'm seeing thateven the number of systems and
tools is increasing year overyear.
(08:19):
At one point, that was like 16different systems just to manage
HR, and those numbers are onlyincreasing.
But even if we look at what wecall critical HR tech stack, the
four basics we think about, likean HRAS system, a talent
acquisition system, employeeengagement, and performance and
(08:40):
pay.
Even if we were able to connectthose four systems, which is
what we do within Illuminous,what that allows us to do is
have metrics from higher tofire.
What we can then map is not, youknow, hey, let me look at um how
many people started and quitlast year.
(09:02):
What it then becomes is can Iunderstand somebody's journey
and experience while they'reworking within my organization?
No longer, and as we think abouthow roles are continuing to
shift for organizations, it's nolonger I'm hiring Noelle for
this job.
(09:22):
I'm hiring Noelle because she'sgot the skill sets for this job
that I need right now.
But I probably need somethingdifferent in 18 to 24 months.
And is Noelle the right personto go and fill that role and
that job?
The way that our systems are setup today within organizations,
(09:43):
it's really hard, if notimpossible, to be able to track
that entire journey through anorganization.
And so that's the thing that weget really interested and
excited about is even with thebasics that you've got, how do
we actually unlock those so thatyou have a better understanding
(10:05):
of what's happening with youremployees within the
organization?
It's not enough to just look ata data point of who got
promoted.
It's can we look at everythingholistically and say, you know,
did Noelle get promoted or didRon get promoted?
But more can we start looking athow do we bring that performance
(10:27):
data next to engagement data,next to understanding how
somebody's been moving, how longhave they been in a role before
they've been given newresponsibilities?
Those are the kinds of thingsthat um there's so much more we
can even do with whatorganizations already have.
And I think that's the realopportunity uh that really
(10:49):
excites us.
SPEAKER_01 (10:51):
Wow, phenomenal.
I love it.
I mean, because we're in thewe're in the people business and
you know, people you know are avaluable commodity, but also
it's a um, I tell people it'salso one of those things that
that can cause chaos inorganizations.
Right.
When you when you're looking atthe data points and you're
looking at the holistic view ofthe work that you do, do you
have what's the value of like soorganizations are listening on
(11:14):
here now that that are inexactly where you are, what's
the value of using yourorganization Luminous to help
them figure out because there'speople losing jobs, turnovers
high, people nervous inorganization anxiety.
I mean, we're at a time thatwe've never been at before in my
lifetime.
What's the value of using thethe work that you do to help
help organizations figure itout?
How to get a better workplace?
SPEAKER_02 (11:35):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, I think that part of it iswhen we think about the ways
it's I I think you know, longstory short, what it is is
better understand who yourexisting employees are and how
to best support them for them todo the best work of their lives.
(11:57):
And what I mean by that is liketypically when we think about an
HR organization, you know, tonobody's fault, the organization
can be very siloed because HRdoes a whole lot of different
things, right?
It's not this like simple HRmeans X.
(12:17):
HR is touching every part ofyour employees' experience.
And so what that means is thatsometimes we've had siloed HR
organizations where there aredifferent individuals within the
organization that potentiallyeven have conflicting
(12:38):
incentives.
So, what I mean by that is thinkabout a talent acquisition
leader and think about arecruiter.
Oftentimes, some of the goalsthat are set for that individual
are time to hire, number ofroles filled.
But when we're always thinkingabout net new, we're sometimes
(13:00):
forgetting to look at ourexisting employees.
And so, with that, I think, youknow, an example and value of
what kind of how to paint thepicture of why focusing on
retaining is so important, isthat there's an example of um,
you know, we've been workingwith a retailer.
(13:22):
When you think about industrieslike retail, like hospitality,
they're immensely important toour country.
I mean, huge employers.
They also typically have some ofthe highest turnover rates,
where it's not um, you know,some retailers like sea stores
(13:43):
are experiencing 200% turnoverper year of their employees in
stores.
And that is not uncommon.
And so if we think about that,if you are spending these HR
teams are absolutely underwaterbecause they're trying to fill
(14:04):
roles to keep the lights on, tokeep the gas station open,
right?
I remember during COVID times,maybe some of you experience you
got to stop to go to therestroom and McDonald's is
closed because they don't haveenough people to staff the
store.
Yes.
And so if all of our budgetretention for a retailer is
(14:25):
anticipated to be about three,is anticipated to improve uh
store sales by about 3% ofrevenue a year.
Uh, and so if we think aboutturnover to, let's say, a$2
billion organization, we'retalking about$100 million in
(14:47):
loss due to turnover cost,because it is more expensive to
rehire somebody than it is tohire somebody new.
And if we put the incentives oftalent acquisition as not
thinking about internal mobilityand talent management and talent
acquisition aren't workingtogether, what that means is
(15:10):
that you're on your back footbecause you gotta hire for these
roles.
They're empty.
And it's actually costing youmore than if we were able to
listen to our employees tounderstand why those individuals
might be leading, then thatactually saves the organization
dollars and the employee feelsmore supported and happier, and
(15:35):
that is really a win-win.
Um, and so that's really when wethink about um, you know, you
know, what the opportunity is,especially as we look at a
number of these frontline heavyindustries.
I think that's the thing that wesee as just such an enormous
(15:57):
opportunity.
And we're able to unlock so muchmore information if we're
connecting these systems so thatwe're looking at the whole
picture and the whole story andthe HRs all running in the same
direction instead of potentiallyhaving some of these um
competing incentives.
SPEAKER_01 (16:19):
Yes, thank you.
And you watch it happen inorganizations every day.
So being that you you've built,you know, you've been internal,
now you're external, you'reyou're entrepreneur and
successful at what you're doing.
Are there any lessons that thathave helped shape how how your
organization helped you knowbuild and empower, you know,
high-performing teams?
What are some lessons you'velearned that that allow you to
do really, really good at thework you do?
SPEAKER_02 (16:41):
Man, I tell you, I've learned a whole lot of
lessons um along the way.
Um, I will say that's probablyone of my favorite parts of
being an entrepreneur is justthe you know personal growth um
side of this.
You know, I've I've learned alot along the way.
I've got a whole lot more tolearn um along the way as well.
(17:03):
But I think what has been reallyimportant is um making sure, and
it's also such a blessing, and Ifeel so fortunate to be able to,
you know, co-create values andbehaviors alongside my team.
(17:23):
And, you know, it's hard tobuild a company, and you're told
no most of the time.
Um, but you also, it's such ablessing to be able to say at
the end of the day, you know, wewere told no a whole lot today,
but these are the things thatreally matter to the us.
(17:43):
This is why we're building thiscompany, this is what motivates
us.
And, you know, one of those kindof key things is, you know,
getting to say these are thefive-ish behaviors or so that
are really important to us.
And one of them that, you know,I've really learned a whole lot
along the way is just theimportance of mindset as a part
(18:05):
of every single person's job.
So to me, you know, that's whatI look for when I'm building my
team, when I'm, you know,working with my team.
It's about their growth mindset.
We've got individuals that, youknow, they run marathons, they
run ultra marathons and areextreme athletes on our team.
(18:30):
Um, they're all kind of comingwith this piece of they're do,
they're doing things thatthey're they've been told are
impossible to do and to achieve.
And I think that that's really,you know, there's a lot of I've
hired for industry on our team.
I've hired from individuals thathave built unicorn companies on
(18:53):
our team, and all of them havebeen, you know, great
contributors um for what weneeded, but it's not that.
That background, I don't think,is what I get as excited about.
The thing I get excited aboutand that I look for is really
that mindset.
Um, and how do we tap into thatand how do we cultivate that?
(19:17):
And I would say that's probablyone of the biggest contributors
on performance.
SPEAKER_01 (19:22):
Wow.
Which is amazing.
I mean, so as as people arelistening, you think about the
mindset piece of it becauseoftentimes we're always looking
for skill set, not mindset.
Um, you know, as you're hiring.
And do you have so have you inthe time that you've been doing
it, do you have data points thatshow how do you define or what
do you look for when you say inmindset?
How do you help the people thatare listening?
What are they looking for whenthey say mindset?
(19:43):
What does it mean to me?
SPEAKER_02 (19:44):
Yeah, I I think um, yeah, and I mean to me, I it's
interesting.
I um I just hired someone that'scoming onto our team that I'm
really excited about.
And, you know, he spent he spent10 years in the military and was
working on submarines and fixingsubmarines.
(20:05):
And, you know, we were talkingabout, you know, he's got a
non-traditional background, he'sgraduating from school actually
this week.
And, you know, he said, well, Idon't know how to do some of
those things.
You know, when I was saying thisis what the role looks like and
this is what it entails.
And I said, I don't care if youknow how to do them.
(20:27):
I can teach you and you canteach yourself.
What I care about is thecuriosity, the hunger to learn,
the dedication to the problemthat we're solving and to our
team.
And, you know, there's a lot ofthings out there where the first
thing I asked him, he's he'sbuilt a leather company.
(20:50):
Um, Marcus has, and I asked him,like, tell me about what you're
good at and what you're not goodat.
And at first he said,procurement.
And I was like, that's a badanswer.
You know, like I that's a badanswer.
Like, we're not a we're asoftware company, we're not a
products company.
But then what I actually heardhim say is he said, no, I go to
(21:11):
Italy and I procure leather fromthis company, from this Italian
family.
And I don't know Italian.
And so I show up with GoogleTranslate on my phone, and
that's how I'm communicatingback and forth.
And I said, Oh, what you meanisn't procurement?
It's hustle, it's figuring itout, it's problem solving.
(21:35):
And that is that is the mostunderrated skills, I believe, is
the problem solving bit.
You know, like if you're aproblem solving, he he said, I
don't know marketing, but I justwent into Chat GPT and taught
myself what SEO is and puttogether a plan for six weeks on
(21:58):
what SEO is.
And I was like, that is it.
That's I don't care if you knowwhat SEO is, I care that you
know how to go and find theanswer.
SPEAKER_01 (22:07):
Yes, I love and for for people that are listening, I
mean that's phenomenal becausethat's kind of where we are.
You know, uh, if you built yourbusiness to just be sustainable,
that changes minute by minutenow.
And so you got to be adaptableevery day in order for you to be
around.
So when you think of the leaderstoday and the data that you're
sharing with them, Noelle, whatare there any things that are
showing up that that makeleaders like casteristics or
(22:30):
traits that will be helpfulafter they get the information
that you share?
What are the things that areshowing up that they kind of got
to bring to the table as far astraits or characteristics?
SPEAKER_02 (22:40):
Um, in terms of how they're successful within our
platform and within our tool.
SPEAKER_04 (22:45):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (22:46):
Um, yeah, I mean, it's not the the thing that I
really noticed, Ron, when I wasstarting a Luminous, is you
know, the products that werepeople analytics has been this
field that's really emerged in awhole it's been around for a
long time, but it's a fieldthat's really emerged in an
(23:09):
entirely new way since 2021because it was this like
re-emergence was born out ofthere is so much change
happening in the workforce andwhat is happening and how do we
manage it and deal with it.
And so, you know, I think thisfield's been around for a while,
but at the time, I mean, and welaunched, you know, pretty much
(23:32):
right after um that.
But when I was starting to kindof see these market signals and
where there was a gap forleaders, what I saw within the
market is that the peopleanalytics solutions that existed
were really catered towards thatPhD in data science, that people
(23:55):
analytics leader andorganizations that, you know,
the Coca-Cola's of the worldthat have 300,000 employees,
they can afford thoseindividuals to come and work
within their organization.
But the reality is that 90% ofthe rest of companies are never
going to be able to afford thattype of capability on their
(24:18):
team.
And so that's really where youknow we saw the opportunity is
how do we bring the level ofdata and insights that are
needed for organizations thatcan't afford to hire up an
entire team to be specialistwithin this, because every
company needs the data to beable to make better decisions,
(24:41):
but they might not know how tocode SQL or how to build a
predictive forecast.
And so essentially what we sawis within these middle market
companies, think like 15,000employees or less, those
organizations need the data.
They may not be specialists indata.
So, how do we bring them thatdata in an accessible, easy to
(25:04):
understand way?
And so, you know, to takeadvantage, and sorry for the
long-winded answer there, but totake advantage of Illuminus, I
don't think that you need, youknow, a specialization in data
science.
I don't think that you need acertification in people
analytics.
What I will say, folks that aremost successful within the
(25:28):
platform, they're data-drivenindividuals.
They are on, they either lead orare on teams where data is an
expectation within theorganization.
So we make decisions because wehave the data that helps us make
that decision.
So more than anything, I wouldsay maybe to like pull out of
(25:52):
the hat that I was just talkingabout, I think it's probably
more of a mindset more thananything.
We don't need to have those dataskills.
Um, we don't need to have, youknow, we kind of help with the
data literacy and the datafluency.
Um, but it more than anything,it's hey, I have a desire to
(26:13):
lead or be on a team that isdata driven.
Um, and I've got leadership thatis supporting me on, you know,
wanting me to come to them withdata to help inform people,
employee-related decisions.
SPEAKER_01 (26:33):
Thank you.
Thank you for the response.
The the question that's comingto mind, um, you shared a lot of
great information um for leadersthat are that are listening.
When you think how fast we'removing, things are changing
constantly, and there's a highexpectation on levers on leaders
to to deliver consistently.
SPEAKER_04 (26:50):
Yep.
SPEAKER_01 (26:50):
But there's also this balance of uh taking care
of people while getting resultsdone.
What's showing up as you do thedata and you and you work with
organizations to make them makestrategic decisions, how to be
human but hold peopleaccountable and create the
workforce that's going to be youknow agile, if you will, moving
forward?
SPEAKER_02 (27:08):
Yeah, it's a really good question.
And I do think that it is a verydelicate balance.
Um, I will say that, you know,even in the last couple of
years, the emphasis more andmore as we talk to
organizations, the questionthey're trying to unlock and to
(27:28):
answer is how do I build a highperformance team?
SPEAKER_04 (27:32):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (27:32):
They may have looked at, you know, employee
engagement surveys before.
They may have looked at, youknow, turnover and attrition
numbers before.
What they're really trying tounderstand now is this question
around performance.
SPEAKER_04 (27:49):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (27:50):
Um, so I think that there is an you know as we look
at, you know, the employeeexperience, we may, you know, I
hear from friends of mine thatare at organizations of just
more and more expectations thatare being placed on fewer and
(28:11):
fewer people.
Um high performance isimportant, but sustainable high
performance is important.
And so that's where I think umit's not just about performance
per for performance sake, it'sabout being able to look at this
data holistically to be able tounderstand, you know, are we at
(28:34):
risk of burnout here?
Um, so if we can look at, youknow, many of you have heard of
money ball and you know, thinkabout money ball, like that's
kind of the end goal, right?
Is like how organizationsthemselves haven't really had
good data to understand whatworks in creating high
(28:54):
performance previously.
That's why we exist, is toreally be able to answer that
question like, what are all ofthe inputs?
What are we learning about whatit takes to build a high
performing individual withinyour organization?
And what that means is beingable to look at various
different data points togetherso that you have good context.
(29:18):
It's not enough to say, issomebody, if we're looking at a
nine box, is somebody like upperright hand quadrant.
What we want to be able to sayis can I look at this
individual?
Can I look at a team?
Can I look at an organization?
And am I understanding who hashigh performers with lower
(29:39):
turnover, with higherengagement, with longer 10 years
where I'm seeing opportunitiesfor internal mobility underneath
those leaders?
It's not just a upper rightquadrant.
It's is my organization healthy?
unknown (29:57):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (29:58):
And I think that's kind.
Of the shift of you know when westart looking at the data points
together, so we're looking atthis holistically, it's not just
performance numbers, it's am Icultivating a strong, healthy
organization that is going tocontinue to be able to drive
(30:20):
high performance for me?
SPEAKER_01 (30:22):
Yes, yes.
As you look at it, and all thedata you pull and programming or
in the work that Luminous isdoing, does it cater to or
support um as the work that wedo is helping teams you know
develop secession plans acrossthe board?
Is there an opportunity forhelping because a lot of
organizations are not doing realwell at secession planning, it's
changing so fast, people areretiring.
There's a lot of factors to tocontribute to that.
(30:44):
But at the end of the day, theystill have to put secession
plan.
Is is the program and the workthat you're doing help
organizations do that moreeffectively?
SPEAKER_02 (30:52):
Yeah, I absolutely believe so.
Um we recently um partnered withan organization um that does
technology across the state ofGeorgia and as an association.
We partnered with them to run asuccession planning course.
And I think that thosecomponents that I was just
(31:13):
sharing with you around theemployee journey is absolutely
key.
So, you know, we work with, Iwas mentioning a retailer
earlier, and there's a lot ofreally great anecdotes, I'll
say, about how somebody growsfrom a store position into
(31:36):
corporate and grows into aleader position.
You have all kinds of reallyinteresting cases where this has
happened within retail, um, fromNike to Kava to um, you know,
Kroger or others.
What we don't have often readilyavailable is the actual data
(31:57):
that helps us understand whathappened and why it happened by
us being able to connect thedots so that we can have data
around career journeys to say,you know, typically we're
noticing that a high potentialperson that's starting in the
store is there for X amount ofyears.
(32:18):
And then typically this is whattheir journey looks like.
When we can start to pull thatdata together and to map it,
what that allows us to do is toactually understand what those
journeys look like, but to beable to communicate back to
employees what those journeyslook like so that they
understand what the journey andthe opportunity is to stay
(32:41):
within the organization and growthere.
Um, so yes, I absolutely thinkthat um it's an important
component to the overallsuccession planning conversation
um with what we do withproviding the data around those
career journeys.
SPEAKER_01 (32:59):
Well, love it.
I mean, phenomenal.
I mean, I think you answered alot of the questions and helped
people that are listening figureout the importance of data, you
know, that to help makestrategic decisions, decisions
that make sense, that's costeffective.
You know, so thank you for that.
So as we begin to look at timeand and wind it down for our
listeners, out of everythingthat you shared, you know, um a
ton of information, are theretwo to three takeaways that that
(33:23):
you share um about whether youknow your organization, how you
help, or things that you'renoticing that you can, you know,
unpack a little bit, you know,as we close out.
What would you share your topthree things that you hope they
walk away from this conversationwith?
SPEAKER_02 (33:35):
Yeah, um, I would say, you know, maybe starting
with the first one, just becauseI mentioned mindset a couple of
times.
And, you know, maybe that's thatwould be kind of the thing that
I would encourage listeners morethan anything, is um sometimes I
think that there's a desire forperfection.
(33:56):
Um data is not um going to beperfect, it's going to need
help, it's gonna need um, it'sgonna need to be improved.
And so sometimes we get the,hey, I don't know if I'm ready
yet, because I don't know if mydata is in a place yet where I'm
ready to be able to do this,even though I want to.
(34:18):
And so I would just reallyencourage progress over
perfection.
I think that when we look atmaturity in data in
organizations, it's really funnybecause some organizations think
there's they're so much furtherahead than they actually are.
And then a lot of organizationsthink they're so much worse off
than they actually are.
(34:39):
We actually see a whole lot ofmeeting in the middle.
And so that's kind of where Iwould um encourage folks to get
started because things aremoving really fast.
You don't want to miss theopportunity to really be able to
streamline some of theseworkflows and take advantage of
(35:02):
the technology that's comingout.
And so, even if you're not readyto leverage all the AI tools
yet, you'll need to at somepoint.
And so it's good to startgetting comfortable um with the
data and improving the overalldata foundation.
There are easy things you cando, like remove duplicates,
remove typos, just get in thereand like improve the overall
(35:25):
data quality because that'sreally gonna put you ahead.
Um, and I'd love to, you know,talk to anybody that's
interested in that.
Um, and then the second thing Iwould say is um, you know, if
anyone is interested,everybody's trying to figure
this out.
(35:45):
Um, nobody has the answers yet,and that's okay.
Um, we launched a community ofpeople leaders um that we get
together regularly to share bestpractices, um, you know, come
with uh tactics and strategiesthat you're using and sharing
those openly with the rest ofthe group.
(36:06):
Um, our next one is actuallygoing to be on AI and automation
the first week in June.
And so if anybody's interested,um again, I would say reach out
to me and I would love to getyou signed up so that you have a
group of other leaders that youcan go to to ask questions of,
to share best practices with.
Um, those would probably be mytwo um kind of pieces of advice.
(36:30):
Find a community of folks aroundyou that can help you as you're
um, you know, improving yourcraft in this area.
Um, but also um don't hesitateon just going ahead and getting
started in some ways.
Um, and then the third thing Iwould just say is um, you know,
for anybody that's interested,would love to tell you a little
(36:50):
bit more, Ron, maybe if youcould uh add our link into the
show notes um or my LinkedIn.
Um, you know, we are oftentimesputting out things like
newsletters with resources thatmay be able to help you through
this journey as well.
So um would love to get you allplugged in and uh continue the
conversation.
SPEAKER_01 (37:10):
Yes, yes, and we definitely will.
We'll have all your contactinformation on the show notes
and people can reach out and andphenomenal information.
I think it's the way that we'regoing, no data is gonna be, you
know, I tell I guess what Ialways tell people, um, didn't
even though I was you knowhaving you on the show, but I
tell people data drives dollarsand decisions.
SPEAKER_03 (37:28):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (37:29):
Yeah, people people go back and look at data, decide
where they're gonna spend andwhat decisions they're gonna
make.
So it's important for all of us.
And I love that you said ifyou're not comfortable with it,
just get started and get betterat it.
You know, so don't run away fromit.
And if you're not using it now,you eventually will have to.
So I love that you said justjust learn it.
Um, put yourself in thecommunity and and go and learn
it because at some point, ifyou're not using it, we all will
(37:49):
be using it.
Um, so I love that you gave thatpointer at the end.
Um, and for everyone that'slistening, you know, hopefully
that the information that Noelleshared, you understand it.
Um Noelle, is there a way forpeople to reach out to you?
Is there a LinkedIn or anythingyou want to share as far as how
people contact you?
We'll put it in the show notes.
Do you want to say it before wewe wrap up our session here
today?
SPEAKER_02 (38:07):
Yeah, sure.
So um feel free to reach out tome, Noel N O E L L E at
Illuminous.
And I'm gonna do a spelling Bfor Illuminous.
Um, so it's my full email isgonna be Noelle N O E L L E at
Illuminous, I L L O O M I N U Sdot com.
Um, feel free to reach out.
(38:28):
And I love that um you said thatabout dollars and cents, Ron.
What I'll leave you with is yourpeople, your employee headcount
is your most expensive part ofthe entire organization.
And the vast majority oforganizations don't understand
what's happening with theirpeople.
So talk about dollars and centsand really way to make an impact
(38:50):
on your organization is to havethe data around your people.
SPEAKER_01 (38:54):
Wow, that's a microphone.
You know, so for all of you thatare with us, you know, she ended
it on a really, really greatnote.
Um, thank y'all for joining uson the podcast.
We hope that you share it withothers and you come back again.
We're always looking for gueststhat have value to add to our
audience.
You know, I think we're we'rebecoming an ecosystem across the
board.
Technology allows us to helpeach other, share with each
other, reach out to each other,and support each other's
businesses.
(39:15):
Both of us are our businessowners.
We'd love to have an opportunityto have a conversation with you.
So feel free to reach out toeither one of us at any time.
And if you don't get theinformation, reach out to me and
I'll share it with you on everyguest that we always have.
Our goal is to add value to whatyou're doing.
Uh, we're not here to sell youanything, but we're definitely
here to serve if serve andprovide a service if we can
solve a problem for you.
(39:35):
So thank you again, share itwith everyone.
And until next time, Noelle andI will sign off and tell you
have a phenomenal day.
SPEAKER_00 (39:42):
Well, we hope you enjoyed this edition of Unpack
Podcast with leadershipconsultant Ron Harvey.
Remember to join us every Mondayas Ron Unpacks Sound Advice,
providing real answers for realleadership challenges.
Until next time, remember to addvalue and make a difference
where you are or the people youserve.
(40:04):
Because people always matter.
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