312: Why Customer Centricity Fails: The Missing Link Between Training and Results | Vimal Rai

Why do companies spend millions on customer experience, technology, and training, yet customers keep experiencing the same problems?In this episode of The Human Side of Results, Dr. Pelè Ugboajah sits down with Vimal Rai, co-founder and managing partner of Commercial Excellence Partners, to explore why customer centricity requires much more than great intentions, impressive dashboards, or exceptional customer service.Drawing on more than 25 years of experience across aviation, global business operations, and consulting, Vimal explains why customer centricity must become an organizational operating system, shaping the decisions leaders make and the behaviors employees practice every day.He also shares a remarkable example of an organization that improved its Net Promoter Score from -30 to +75 in just six months, illustrating the potential of connecting people, purpose, and performance.Together, they explore why training alone doesn't produce results, how leaders can move beyond measuring participation to understanding business impact, and what happens when employees return to the workplace after the learning event.Because the real test of training isn't what people learn in the room. It's what they do differently when they leave.Vimal also offers a preview of his forthcoming book, The Customer Centricity Operating System, expected in 2027.The Human Side of Results explores how organizations turn knowing into doing, and doing into measurable results.Connect with Vimal at https://www.linkedin.com/in/vimalrai-customer-centric-experience/

Beyond Expertise: How AI Can Help You Prove Your Programs Work | Jane AtkinsonWhat if the next big competitive advantage for consulting, coaching, training, and speaking professionals isn't better content, but the ability to prove their content actually works?In this special episode of The Human Side of Results, the tables are turned! I'm the guest, and renowned speaker coach Jane Atkinson is asking the questions.Originally recorded for Jane's The Wealthy Speaker Podcast, this conversation explores a challenge that has followed the development industry for decades: What happens after the speaker leaves, the workshop ends, and participants return to their everyday lives?Jane and I explore how artificial intelligence is creating new possibilities for helping people put learning into practice, supporting behavior change, and gathering credible evidence of client results.We discuss:Why great content, expertise, and glowing evaluations are no longer enough.How AI-powered coaching can extend your influence long after a program ends.Why sustainable behavior change takes a village, not just a motivated participant.How evidence of client impact can strengthen renewals, referrals, and long-term relationships.How Jane is reimagining her own Wealthy Speaker School, moving from 150 lessons to 24 more focused, action-oriented learning experiences supported by AI.I also share a deeply personal story from my childhood during the Nigerian Civil War, and how the people who helped my family survive shaped my belief that meaningful results are never achieved alone.The big idea? The future belongs to professionals who can move beyond delivering expertise to helping clients achieve and demonstrate meaningful results.Special acknowledgment: This conversation was originally hosted by Jane Atkinson on The Wealthy Speaker Podcast. Jane has generously given permission for us to share it here on The Human Side of Results. Jane is also an advisor to ResultPal™, where we're working together to explore new possibilities for AI-powered learning and behavior change.Discover your Results Intelligence: https://resultpal.com/diagnosticLearn more about ResultPal: https://resultpal.comThis is the way!

What if the secret to making learning stick isn't another PowerPoint presentation, but a little more laughter?In this episode of The Human Side of Results, Dr. Pelè welcomes Joseph Zamora, an organizational development and HR leader at Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina, whose unusual combination of professional acting, humor, and organizational development offers a fresh perspective on workplace learning.Together, they explore how storytelling and edutainment can make complex ideas more relatable, why traditional training often fails to produce lasting behavior change, and what organizations can do to keep learning alive long after the classroom experience ends.The conversation takes an unexpected turn when Dr. Pelè compares traditional training to watching a movie, while effective learning might be more like a Netflix series: engaging, ongoing, and something people actually want to return to.But there's a catch. What happens when people remember the joke but forget the lesson?Joseph shares his insights on balancing entertainment with substance, the importance of follow-up and coaching, and how organizations can connect employee development with meaningful business results.In this episode, discover:Why treating training as a one-time event undermines lasting change.How humor and storytelling can make learning more engaging and memorable.What corporate learning can borrow from binge-worthy entertainment.Why coaching, repetition, and reinforcement matter after training.How to balance employee fulfillment with organizational performance.Because ultimately, it's not just what people KNOW. It's what they DO with what they know that creates RESULTS.Connect with Joseph: LinkedIn

What if the reason training fails to produce lasting results isn't the training itself, but the support system surrounding it?Organizations invest millions in employee development, yet too often, participants return to work and nothing changes. Managers are expected to reinforce new behaviors, HR is expected to prove the impact, and everyone hopes the investment will pay off.But as Sandra Ihenacho puts it, it takes a village.In this episode of The Human Side of Results, Dr. Pelè welcomes Sandra Ihenacho, widely known as "The Oracle," CEO of M. Bryan Consulting Limited and a passionate advocate for training transfer effectiveness across Africa.Drawing on her extensive experience in corporate learning and consulting, Sandra shares why training transfer must become a shared organizational responsibility, not another burden placed on already overwhelmed managers.Together, they explore:Why organizations continue investing in training without demanding evidence of business results.How Sandra developed her Training Transfer Effectiveness Operating System (TTEOS).Why managers play a critical role in behavior change but cannot carry the entire responsibility.The six components of an effective training transfer ecosystem.How to design training for measurable performance improvement before the program even begins.Why Sandra is building a movement across Africa to transform how organizations approach training effectiveness.This is more than a conversation about learning and development. It's a challenge to rethink how organizations turn knowing into doing, and doing into meaningful results.Because lasting behavior change doesn't happen in isolation. It takes a village.Connect with Sandra on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandra-ihenacho-b6713232/

Why do so many training programs produce great feedback but so little lasting behavior change?In this episode of The Human Side of Results, Dr. Pelè speaks with Melanie Martinelli, CEO of the Institute for Transfer Effectiveness and founder of Going Beyond Training, about what it really takes to make learning stick and turn development into measurable business results.Melanie shares her journey from finance and business leadership to becoming a passionate advocate for learning transfer. After investing in training and questioning whether it actually worked, she discovered a problem that continues to challenge organizations worldwide.Together, they explore why traditional training evaluation often misses what matters, how the 12 Levers of Transfer Effectiveness help create lasting change, why workplace peers and managers are essential, and how better measurement and emerging technology can help organizations improve performance.You'll discover:Why satisfaction surveys cannot tell you whether training worked.How managers and workplace peers influence behavior change.Why measurement should drive improvement, not simply report results.How leading indicators connect workplace behavior to business outcomes.Why technology is creating new opportunities to make learning transfer practical and scalable.If you're a consultant, coach, trainer, or L&D leader who wants your programs to create meaningful change beyond the classroom, this conversation is for you.Because the real value of training isn't what people learn. It's what they do differently afterward.----Connect with Melanie Martinelli here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-martinelli/

What happens after a great training program ends?For nearly two decades, Chris Taylor, Founder and CEO of Actionable, has been obsessed with that question.In this episode of The Human Side of Results, Chris joins Dr. Pelè for a candid conversation about the knowing-doing gap, why learning so often fails to become sustained behavior change, and why proving impact is quickly moving from a competitive differentiator to table stakes for consulting, coaching, and training firms.Drawing on data from more than 9,000 programs and millions of behavior-change data points, Chris challenges some common assumptions about manager involvement, self-reported behavior change, accountability, and what actually helps new behaviors stick.The conversation also explores the business case for making impact visible. When learning providers can see what happens after the program, they can improve what they deliver, have more strategic conversations with clients, demonstrate the value they create, and build stronger client relationships.The future of learning may not be about creating more content. It may be about finally turning on the lights and seeing what changed.Connect with Chris on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisjrtaylor/

Why does so much great training fail to produce measurable results?In this episode of The Human Side of Leadership, Dr. Pelè sits down with Greg Schinkel, CEO of Unique Training & Development, for a candid conversation between two leadership development practitioners who have spent decades wrestling with the same challenge: how do we turn learning into behavior change, and behavior change into business results?Greg shares his journey from manufacturing and leadership development into the ongoing pursuit of better ways to activate and measure learning. Dr. Pelè traces his own perspective back to an extraordinary childhood experience during the Nigerian Civil War, where he learned a lesson that would shape his philosophy decades later: survival did not depend on one person. It took a village.Together, they explore why traditional training measurement often stops short of results, the limitations of surveys and self-reported behavior, the roles managers and executives must play after training, and how AI is creating new possibilities for seeing behavior change as it happens.Their central conclusion is simple but consequential: the learner cannot carry the responsibility for training success alone.If organizations want development programs to create measurable results, participants must practice, leaders must activate, and organizations must leverage what they learn.Training may begin in the classroom. Results happen in the village.

As technology and AI reshape the way we work, how do leaders embrace innovation without losing the human touch?Joshua Evarts has spent more than three decades building businesses in technology. But some of his most important lessons about leadership came from an unexpected place: a cigar lounge he opened as a gathering space for conversation, community, and connection.In this episode of The Human Side of Leadership, Dr. Pelè talks with Joshua, author of If Jesus Smoked Cigars, about why relationships remain at the heart of meaningful leadership, even as technology becomes more powerful.Joshua shares how his battle with cancer deepened his appreciation for human connection, why technology should ultimately lead us back to better conversations, and what his cigar lounge taught him about creating spaces where people feel seen, heard, and valued.They also explore the growing role of AI, the importance of listening more than speaking, and why knowing that relationships matter isn't enough. Leaders have to turn that belief into everyday behavior.Joshua's challenge to leaders is both simple and profound: don't try to transform every relationship at once. Start with one.Because ultimately, great leadership isn't just about building a successful business. It's about building a culture strong enough to help people navigate the inevitable challenges of business and life without losing what makes us human.Connect with Joshua Evarts on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuaevarts/

Why do some employees embrace AI while others resist it, quietly avoid it, or deliberately use it poorly?According to behavioral scientist Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, AI adoption is not primarily a technology challenge. It is a human challenge rooted in three powerful emotions: fear of job loss, threats to professional identity, and shame surrounding the use of AI-generated work.In this episode of The Human Side of Leadership, Dr. Pelè talks with Dr. Gleb about his new book, The Psychology of AI Adoption at Work: From Resistance to Results. Together, they explore why traditional change-management approaches often fall short, how leaders unintentionally trigger resistance, and why simply purchasing AI tools and telling employees to use them rarely produces meaningful results.Dr. Gleb also explains how organizations can discover where AI will genuinely help employees, design tools around real workplace frustrations, and move from scattered individual experimentation to productive team-wide adoption.If leaders want AI to deliver results, they must first address the psychology of the people being asked to use it.Dr. Gleb Tipursky on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-gleb-tsipursky/

Artificial intelligence is transforming the workplace, but are organizations redesigning work before they truly understand it?In this episode of The Human Side of Leadership, Dr. Pelè sits down with workforce transformation executive, author, and LinkedIn Top Voice Kason Morris to explore his groundbreaking concept of Execution Visibility.Together, they discuss why AI doesn't replace jobs, but the tasks within them, why human judgment may become the most valuable capability of the AI era, and why leaders must first understand how work creates value before they can successfully redesign it.Kason shares practical guidance for executives, HR leaders, and learning professionals on balancing automation with human development, preserving critical thinking, and building organizations where technology strengthens rather than weakens capability.If you're leading AI transformation, workforce strategy, leadership development, or organizational change, this conversation offers a thoughtful framework for designing the future of work without losing what makes people indispensable.Connect with Kason Morris below:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kason-morris/Kason's book on Amazon: "Lifework Revolution"