Host: Kristy McCann Flynn, CEO and Co-founder of SkillCycle

When it comes to corporate culture, HR is the master of ceremonies. But having to corporate culture on top of all the other duties can lead to burnout, turnover, and ultimately low employee engagement, retention, and performance. In simple turns, it leads to a failed culture. What is the solution?

Welcome and Introductions

00:00:03 – 00:03:32

Hey everyone, Christy McCann Flynn here — CEO and co-founder of SkillCycle. I’m zooming in from Ormond Beach, Florida (new place, no blinds yet — sorry for the blur!).

We had people checking in from Baltimore, Atlanta, Cleveland, Wisconsin, Texas, Argentina, Salt Lake, Maryland, North Dakota, Allentown PA, Milwaukee, and more. Loved seeing the geographic spread — and a few fellow Floridians too!

My Background & Why I Left Corporate HR After 20 Years

00:01:30 – 00:05:45

Quick intro: I spent 15 years in corporate HR and 5 years consulting at places like Fidelity Investments, Pearson Education, Constant Contact, and many others. I lived through massive acquisitions (Pearson bought ~10 companies in 3 years), integrations, and constant change.

Five years ago yesterday, I officially launched SkillCycle (originally GoCoach) because I was fed up with two things:

1. The constant “talent shortage / Great Resignation” narrative while companies just recycle and replace people instead of developing them.
2. Most HR systems weren’t built by HR people – they were built by tech folks who created more problems than they solved. I was spending nights and weekends building pivot tables and drinking wine just to prove ROI on performance, engagement, and development.

So I set out to build one unified hub that connects performance management → goals → 360s → engagement → coaching marketplace → learning experience, all feeding personalized skill plans tied to roles and goals.

“Why wasn’t this done 20 years ago when I started in HR? I have no idea.”

What’s Keeping HR Up at Night Right Now?

00:05:45 – 00:12:00

I asked everyone: “What’s the #1 thing on your plate today?”

The chat exploded with:

• Recruiting / retention
• Employee development & appreciation
• Leadership development
• Difficult conversations
• Communication
• Culture in a remote world
• Onboarding
• Payroll

Every single one of these ultimately comes back to skills – especially the “soft” (power) skills we call them) skills like communication, emotional intelligence, change adaptability, collaboration, and giving/receiving feedback.

Change Is Constant — Skills Are the Backbone

00:09:35 – 00:17:03

Everything we do in HR is change:

• New hire → onboarding
• New role/promotion
• New manager
• Acquisition/integration
• Re-org

All of it requires skills to navigate successfully.

At Constant Contact we were burning through sales and customer-success new hires in under 4 months. After fixing the interview process with training + coaching + mentoring, average tenure jumped to over 18 months and we saved millions per month in churn costs.

Key takeaway: Frame every initiative as a change-management project with a clear dollar impact. Leaders only listen when you speak money.

Where Do You Actually Start?

00:17:03 – 00:24:24

• Look at your company values & competencies — are they real? (Story: Pearson’s values were “Brave, Imaginative, Decent”… then someone threw an iPad. We used the values to justify termination.)
• Focus on the employee lifecycle stage that’s bleeding the most right now (recruiting, onboarding, management, etc.).
• Build goal-oriented (not task-oriented) job descriptions.
• Train → Coach → Mentor loop for reinforcement (people need 5–7 exposures to actually change behavior).
• Middle managers are the make-or-break group — they translate strategy to the front line.

Pearson Education Post-Acquisition Chaos

00:24:24 – 00:31:29

We acquired ~10 companies in 3 years. Total mess.

Solution:

• Turned middle managers into change champions
• Heavy investment in communication, collaboration, and change-management skills
• Coaching + mentoring programs tied to the new org structure and e-learning transformation
• Result: Saved the company >$30 million long-term in turnover and lost productivity

Again — every dollar spent on learning & development came back many times over.

Q&A: How Do You Actually Prove ROI on Coaching & Mentoring?

00:31:29 – 00:37:35

Mike asked the golden question.

Three non-negotiables for measurable ROI:

1. Utilization & adoption (are people actually using it?)
2. Connected to roles & goals (no more disconnected LMS graveyards)
3. Evergreen learning — development never stops after the annual review

When coaching/mentoring feedback lives in the same place as performance feedback and goals, you get automatic, ongoing ROI data instead of pivot-table nightmares.

Final Thoughts: Recession-Proofing Your Culture

00:31:29 – 00:37:35

We’re likely heading into economic uncertainty again, but this time there are 11 million open jobs — people can leave.

The only way to keep them is a culture of learning:

• Personalized coaching & mentoring
• Clear development paths tied to roles
• Safety, support, and “what’s in it for me”

Shift budget from systems (or from other departments!) into people development before you cut heads.