Welcome to this episode of When Skills Matter. In today’s conversation, we’re joined by Natal Dank, Executive Director and Principal Consultant at PXO Culture, and a recognized leader in the global Agile HR movement. Natal’s work focuses on helping organizations build adaptability, develop future-ready skills, and use evidence-based approaches to drive real outcomes in HR, learning, and people strategy. Together, we explore how agility isn’t just a buzzword, but a truly practical approach for HR and L&D teams who want to keep pace with rapid change and deliver lasting value. Natal shares actionable insights from her book, Agile L&D, and offers a clear perspective on what it takes to align learning and skills development with actual business priorities. We discuss: The five core principles of Agile L&D—and how they help teams continuously upskill and reskill workforces Why starting with the business challenge, not just a list of skills, leads to better outcomes How skills mapping, T-shaped skills, and practical assessments can uncover real capability gaps The increasing role of AI, automation, and agentic technologies—and what that means for workforce planning Why evidence-based, incremental learning programs get better results than traditional big-bang training approaches The growing importance of “transversal” skills like adaptability, critical thinking, and communication—alongside digital capabilities How HR and L&D leaders can build more elastic, resilient organizations by focusing on learning agility and continuous experimentation Challenges of keeping skills frameworks, inventories, and learning programs up to date as technology and job requirements shift Our aim with this episode is to give you grounded, practical ideas for making learning more relevant, targeted, and impactful. Whether you’re shaping L&D strategy, redesigning job roles, or simply trying to future-proof your teams, you’ll find plenty of takeaways for your own organization. We’re excited to bring you these conversations. Welcome to When Skills Matter. About The Podcast The When Skills Matter podcast is where forward-thinking HR, L&D, and business leaders come together to share practical ideas and fresh perspectives on workforce development, learning, and performance. Hosted by Robin Adda, founder and CEO of SkillsAssess, the show dives into real-world strategies for closing skills gaps, developing leaders, aligning HR and L&D with business priorities, and making smarter people decisions that drive measurable impact. You’ll hear from experienced practitioners and innovators as they explore what’s working, what’s not, and how to navigate the challenges of change, digital disruption, and the evolving world of work. Whether you’re focused on skills mapping, learning strategy, or talent development, this podcast will give you valuable insights you can use right away. About SkillsAssess By providing comprehensive data analytics, SkillsAssess shows where skills gaps are within organisations by department, job role and individual, providing recommendations for learners to upskill only where needed. Powered by AI, this new tool is designed to aid organisations in any field to pinpoint skill gaps and increase productivity in a quick and scaleable manner. Using an intuitive dashboard principally designed for HR and L&D managers and administrators, all the data including full analytics is contained and accessed in one place to make the task of staff upskilling quicker, simpler and easier to carry out. Learn more at www.SkillsAssess.ai.
