Making L&D Contribute To A Sense Of Organisational Purpose: Julie Dervin, Head of Global Learning & Development at Cargill

In our ongoing ‘Learning Leaders’ thematic season here at Learning Is The New Working, we’re super-keen on getting real insights into how the Chief Learning Officer’s job is changing (and how they themselves are leading that change). We’ve got a perfect example in this week’s conversation with Julie Dervin, Head of Global Learning & Development (since 2016), at the largest privately-held corporation in the US in terms of revenue. Cargill, headquartered in Wayzata, Minnesota, serves customers in more than 125 countries in the food, agriculture, financial and industrial segments.

Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Julie has actually been at the organisation in senior roles since 2008, after coming over from eight years with information tech firm Insight. At Cargill, she is currently charged with leading the execution of a whole new L&D vision and strategy in order to accelerate organizational learning, strengthen the learning culture and dramatically improve the employee learning experience—a role she sees as also encompassing positioning Learning as a catalyst for accelerating positive change and transformation.

Incidentally, Learning Futures Group is collaborating with Julie and other CLOs on a September course for The Future Workplace Academy—a curated collection of five week online cohort courses to up-skill HR and HRIS team members for the future of work, with all content designed by and for HR and HRIS team members.

The all-online courses are being guided by an advisory board led by Future Workplace, an HR Advisory and Research firm providing peer networks, professional development and research on What’s Next in Transforming and Re-Imagining HR. Future Workplace operates the Future Workplace Network, a consortium of HR, Talent, and Corporate Learning leaders from FORTUNE 1,000 organizations who convene four times a year to discuss and debate what’s next in preparing for the future of work. I’m delighted to say the Academy are also sponsors for this episode, but let’s dive into our great conversation with her, covering everything from:

  • how Cargill’s HR sees L&D and how that maps on to her firm’s federated model of content ownership
  • the drivers for change and transformation in her vital, global market—agriculture—and a ‘need for speed’
  • connecting her company’s purpose of safe, responsible and sustainable food production with the role of Learning
  • what making L&D more useful and effective at Cargill’s looks like (hint: less specific content change, more a whole new way of delivering Learning)
  • the importance of building a strong relationship with her peers in IT
  • DevOps and Agile as L&D aids
  • a peek into her Innovation Lab (and how she’s ‘hard-wiring’ Innovation into management goals)
  • how she and her team might have found a better way to organize all these virtual calls we’re having to do!
  • and much more.

Resources

Julie is on LinkedIn here

Episode Sponsor

We also invite you to check out our sponsors for this episode, The Future Workplace Academy—a curated collection of five week online cohort courses to upskill HR and HRIS team members for the future of work, with all content designed by and for HR and HRIS team members. Course content is being guided by an advisory board led by Future Workplace, an HR Advisory and Research firm providing peer networks, professional development and research on What’s Next in Transforming and Re-Imagining HR. Future Workplace operates the Future Workplace Network, a consortium of HR, Talent, and Corporate Learning leaders from Fortune 1,000 organizations who convene four times a year to discuss and debate what’s next in preparing for the future of work.

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