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Workforce Therapy Files

Workforce Therapy Files

By: Jim Ray
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This podcast is designed for business leaders and human resource professionals who are challenged with expanding their workforce. Workforce Therapy Files, an Employer Solutions Podcast, is hosted by 3 separate business owners who operate in the staffing and human resources space. They'll provide perspectives, tips and advice (along with a little humor) to help you prepare for and manage your workforce challenges. Need Help Supporting Your Company’s Recruiting and Staffing Goals? We’re here to help. You can contact us via our individual websites, depending on your specific needs or questions: • Jamie Swaim, SPHR – www.ParcelKnows.com • Molley Ricketts – www.IncipioWorks.com • Jason Heflin – www.CrowdSouth.com We hope you find it insightful and helpful. Thank you for listening!2023 Economics Management Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • How Curious Is Your Organization? - An Interview with Deb Clary
    Jul 16 2025
    File 30: In today’s file, the team interviews Dr. Debra Clary her pursuit of the power of curiosity. Deb has had a fascinating career path. She’s worked in executive roles at Frito-Lay, Coca-Cola, Papa John’s, Brown-Forman and Humana. Now, she’s helping organizations to better understand how curiosity impacts its performance, all because of an intriguing question. Meet Deb Clary Deb was the first person in her family to graduate from college. She completed her bachelor’s degree at Michigan State University and earned her doctorate in leadership and organizational development, from George Washington University. Her starting role at Frito-Lay was different from what she’d imagined it’d be, but it yielded extremely valuable insights for her career. She spent roughly a decade there, progressing through the ranks. She joined Coca-Cola in various sales, marketing and global roles. Her global client was Papa John’s. They eventually invited her to join their organization, as the VP of Marketing and that brought her to Louisville. Deb shares she was actually fired from Papa John’s, a year into the role. She admits having come from traditional, corporate environments, the Papa John’s culture was much less-structured and entrepreneurial. Deb assumed a VP of Strategy role in Brown-Forman’s wine division, where she stayed for the next 3 years. Learning that there are significant differences in culture and how those differences manifest, especially in terms of human behavior, was a key milestone. It provided insights into how organizations could create leaders that could have greater impact and contribution, in a way that was warm and welcoming. As Deb was completing her dissertation for her doctorate, she encountered someone from Humana. It lead to a role in a leadership institute Humana was developing. She eventually took on the challenge of leading the institute, which cultivated Humana’s top 1,000 leaders. Deb remained with Human for 18 years. Deb recounts she was sitting next to her CEO, who asked her, “Do you think curiosity can be learned, or is it innate?” It was an intriguing question. After doing a deep dive into the research around that topic, she mentioned to the CEO that curiosity could indeed be learned. This question ignited a spark in Debra. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a lot of data as it related to the question in a corporate environment. So, she commissioned a team of researchers to do primary research on the topic. The data proved it has immense power to transform. Debra recognized a calling. She subsequently left Humana and is pushing this new revelation out into the world. A Spark Leads to a Spotlight A group of accountability partners surprised Deb by arranging an opportunity for all of them to meet in Louisville. It turns out the group had taken a one-woman show concept and actually pitched it to a producer. The producer agreed to take her on, in New York. It was time for Deb to start writing. She had one year to right the play, but absolutely no experience in having done it before. About six months after the start of her writing, someone connected her with a New York playwright who would be willing to provide feedback. In his words, “This sucks.” Deb had written a keynote, not a play suitable for New York. With this realization, Deb found someone to adapt it to stage (a phrase she’d never heard before). She, later, found a director, Jessica De La Rosa. She agreed to work on the first act, to see if the two of them could work together. They turned out to be a great match. Deb’s play is called, “A Curious Woman.” It’s about being a woman in corporate America, during the 80s and 90s. It’s written as a comedy. Interestingly, as a young girl, Deb’s dream was to be a standup comic. She did standup comedy on the weekends, in Detroit, during the Frito-Lay days. The Curiosity Assessment This is a tool Deb developed to help companies benefit from the power of curiosity. The research discussed earlier in the conversation highlighted a few important findings: Curiosity can be learned.Curiosity is contagious.Curiosity can be measured. They developed a validated assessment to measure curiosity, which lasts 6-8 minutes. It focuses on four important factors related to one’s curiosity curve, including exploration, openness to new ideas, focused engagement, and inspirational creativity. The research data indicates that when you have a culture of curiosity, which is most-often driven by the leader, three significant things will occur: You drive retention.It promotes job satisfaction.It fosters engagement. Deb will assess each member of the organization. It will yield an organizational score for each of the four factors, a total score, a team score, and an individual score. It helps individuals to see how they fit into their team and the organization, at large. ...
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    28 mins
  • Emily Sayers on KCTCS Programs for Employers
    Jul 2 2025
    File 29: In today’s file, the team discusses talent pipelines, workforce development and the real drivers behind economic growth in Kentucky. We welcome Emily Sayers, Kentucky’s Executive Director of Workforce Solutions at the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. Meet Emily Sayers Emily serves as the Executive Director in the Cabinet for Workforce and Economic Development, at KCTCS. She may have the longest title for anyone we’ve interviewed on the podcast. There are 16 workforce solutions divisions across Kentucky. This aligns with the 16 colleges within KCTCS. The focus is on business engagement, as well as the upskilling and reskilling of Kentucky’s workforce. Emily originally worked at the Gateway Community and Technical College in northern Kentucky. She viewed her role there as being a community resource for employers, beyond workforce. She often connected employers with any number of others who could play a part in helping them to address specific issues they were facing. Emily and here team could design and deliver customized training to assist employers. It could range from typical skills, such as MIG welding, to more adapted solutions including the welding, but in combination with a range of other company-specific needs, including managerial training. The training could be delivered onsite or at a campus and during times that worked best for the employer, including 3rd shift time slots. It would be a completely customized experienced. The goal for KCTCS is to move at the speed of business. They want to be the incubator for new programming, technologies and more. Timeline for New Orientation Programs and Other Programs Jamie asks Emily about the timeline involved in delivering programs for businesses. Orientation upskilling is a common type of program KCTCS develops for employers, including manufacturing sites, ranging from highly technical processes to basic information regarding two-step verification. If the curriculum already exists, KCTCS could deliver the new program in a week, assuming a subject matter expert can be identified and engaged. This comes back to the focus on moving at the speed of business. Other types of programs that are purely conceptual, at the outset, would require more time. It usually comes down to how prepared the employer is and what their timeline requirements are. Emily mentions there’s no real standard. This manifests in KCTCS working in the gray, as the development of a new program evolves. Customized Programs for the Community Jason comments how KCTCS can customize programs based on needs of a community. For instance, training heavy equipment operators. Once a successful program is developed, it may be possible for KCTCS to leverage parts or all of the training for other situations/locations. Are KCTCS Resources Available to Companies outside of Kentucky? Jason asks Emily if employers in other states can leverage the capabilities of KCTCS? While other states may offer similar services, actually, KCTCS does a lot of work in Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and other border states. Those non-Kentucky states may not have access to state incentives, but there are still opportunities for agile training and program development. KCTCS may be able to partner with other non-profits to assist in opportunities with those employers. How Does KCTCS Approach the Sustainability of the Programs It Develops? It depends on the situation. Some programs may move to the academic-side of Kentucky Community and Technical College System. They would be supported through that area. However, on the workforce development-side of the System, if there is an ongoing need by the employer, KCTCS can arrange to maintain that program. If the needs have moved beyond the initial program, the original program may sunset as resources are focused on developing more up-to-date programs. Jason notes how the community college system can be much more flexible and adaptive, when compared to traditional 4-year universities. Partnerships Across Kentucky Emily describes some of the partnerships they maintain across the state. One is the with the Strategic Workforce and Talent Team (SWATT). It’s comprised of many different entities. This include (but are not limited to) KCTCS, Department for Education and Labor, Cabinet for Economic Development, the Kentucky Chamber, and others. The goal of the partnership is ease of use for the employer. It brings all of Kentucky’s incentives and resources for employers in a clear format. It helps to streamline the conversation between employers and the available providers, while reducing confusion and redundancy. SWATT is still in its early days. There’s an identified effort to educate employers on how to access these program resources. How Do Employers Pay for KCTCS Services? Emily highlights KCTCS-TRAINS funding. This is an allocation of funds specifically for the ...
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    29 mins
  • STAT Training for Active Aggressor or Active Shooter Situations
    Jun 18 2025
    File 28: In today’s file, the team addresses a serious topic. Active aggressor or active shooter situations are becoming more common that we’d like to admit. There are steps you can take to prepare yourself and your organization for this type emergency. We welcome the Eric Culver and Dale Massey, founders of STAT, a company focused on providing active aggressor training. They’ll share advice and insights on preparing for this dangerous situation. Editor’s Note: This file may not be suitable for all audiences, given the subject matter that will be discussed. Meet Eric and Dale Eric started with the Jefferson County Police in 2001. His father is a retired police officer. After 7 years, he joined the FBI. Eric later returned to the police department, as a member of the SWAT team. The mission of the SWAT team is to save lives. He remained part of SWAT for 16 years and eventually retired after serving 21 years with the police force. Dale joined the police department in 2000. Dale eventually joined SWAT as the Assistant Commander. He eventually retired from the SWAT, as the Team Commander in 2021. He credits Eric’s effort in getting the Louisville’s SWAT team established as one of about 50 full-time teams in the US. Eric came up with a concept to train people, once he and Dale retired. That was the genesis of their company, STAT, based out of Louisville, Kentucky. What Inspired Eric and Dale to Create a Program for Active Aggressor Training? Eric seriously enjoyed being part of SWAT, a small-unit team that worked to hone the skill sets of individual members to function as an effective team. When bad things happened, he wanted to be the one who got the call. Eric recalls joining the police department 1 week before 9/11. SWAT spent most of its time working around active-shooter situations. Over time, the term evolved into active aggressor or armed assailant. They developed a response to the city, modeled off of what they learned from a program called, Rescue Task Force. It’s a collaboration between police, fire and EMS developed to help them more effectively respond to scenes. There have been notable situations in our country’s past, during which this type of integration and execution were not thoroughly planned and the results were tragic. Think back to Columbine, Standard Gravure, and others. Dale and Eric were called to the 2018 J-Town Kroger, active-shooter incident. Eric was one of the first officers to enter the building. Eric comments that while he and Dale have 20+ years of training for these types of situations, the regular individual who may be caught in a situation does not. They decided to build a program to provide these services to individuals and organizations. Their approach is to empower and educate people in a positive way. Why Do People Tend to Avoid the Topic? Dale explains that people often don’t want to think about what could happen. “That’ll never happen to me” is an approach people want to believe. However, just in Louisville, we’ve experienced the Standard Gravure, J-Town Kroger and the Old National Bank shootings. These events are actually under-reported. It takes effort to prepare, plan and train for these potential situations. Most people simple prefer to take the easy approach, which is to ignore the possibility. STAT focuses on empowering people; not scaring them. In the event something does happen, you’ll have options, because you’ve taken steps to prepare yourself and your organization. It’s Similar to an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) Many people take time to prepare for a fire or tornado. Preparing for an active aggressor situation is a similar methodology. STAT Offers Services to Businesses STAT provides a range of services to businesses and organizations. A comprehensive, threat assessment is the first step. STAT will do an onsite assessment of your business environment, security procedures, camera surveillance, etc. It will be simple, but impactful and most importantly, actionable. STAT works closely with Homeland Security. They also do a lot of work with non-profit organizations. Many are able to get grant money to offset some or all of the cost. In addition to site assessments, they offer classroom training, active aggressor training, de-escalation training, medical-based training, live scenarios, custom-content for specific needs, and much more. Jaime has experienced training sessions provided by STAT. There were are few ah-ha moments. One fact she realized is that your typical office first-aid kit is not prepared for this type of emergency. Jamie has been first-aid certified and has completed OSHA-30 training, in addition to other workplace safety training sessions. None of them prepared her for how to pack a wound or apply a tourniquet. STAT taught her that valuable skill. Jamie also appreciates the tips and advice STAT offered ...
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    51 mins
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