My name: Jonathan Searle
My company: Genesys
My title: Global Head of Training
My location: Daly City, California
Best business advice I ever received: The advice referenced a term we have all heard: the flight attendant’s instructions to “put on your own oxygen mask before helping others.” The same philosophy applies to being an effective business partner. You can’t spread yourself too thin to help others when your own projects and deliverables are put on the back burner. “The Oxygen Mask Rule” helps me guide my team to prioritize workload and leverage that focus to evangelize our success with those that we help in the future.
Most daring personal career move: While on the learning and development track at my previous job, I felt a little stuck. I decided to change gears and apply for an HR leadership role versus L&D. I got the job, loved it, and I ended up learning so much about labor law, benefits, employee relations, etc. Two years later when the Genesys opportunity came knocking, it was the recent HR experience that gave me the leg up I needed to be selected for the role. So a change in direction ended up getting me to where I wanted to be.
What I’m most proud of: My current training team at Genesys! A year ago, our company doubled in size and we were faced with the challenge to grow and expand (and create some new) training programs to support our growing employee population. Together we have built massive curriculums from the ground up that help our new hires get up to speed faster. We have traveled to facilitate leadership workshops around the globe, led an engaging Women in Leadership webinar series, and have created partnerships with leaders in the business to produce new training content and improve the way in which we approach employee learning.
Current workplace challenge: Genesys invests in an impressive amount of online training resources like Lynda.com and Skillsoft for all employees. The challenge for my team is breaking down deliverables from the extensive library and curating learning paths, playlists, and curriculums that are meaningful and time-effective for our busy people.
Something people don’t know about me: I am a trained singer, performed in musicals as a kid, and almost made it as a Mouseketeer in the New Mickey Mouse Club on the Disney Channel.