We spoke with Pete Humphreys, CEO of workplace learning firm Development Beyond Learning (DBL), about the evolution of talent development and keys to activating capability in early career professionals.
About Pete Humphreys
Pete brings over 25 years of global leadership experience spanning human capital management, commercial strategy, and workplace learning. In 2023 he joined Development Beyond Learning (DBL) as CEO to accelerate their impact on early career training across industries. Under his guidance, DBL is pioneering new innovations in platform delivery and skills measurement while remaining laser focused on infusing behavioural excellence into emerging talent. Pete unpacks critical behaviours like communication and resilience that serve professionals throughout their careers. He also revealed how DBL’s immersive programs deliver personalised, high-engagement learning unlike any off-the-shelf solution.
"Key priorities include continuing to enhance our learning solutions to drive more impact and value, measuring that impact more effectively, and accelerating our digital transformation."
Pete, what attracted you to join Development Beyond Learning (DBL) as CEO? What are some of your key priorities in this role?
I was drawn to DBL because it's an established organisation with strong growth potential and the opportunity to make a real difference for our clients and their talent development. Key priorities include continuing to enhance our learning solutions to drive more impact and value, measuring that impact more effectively, and accelerating our digital transformation. We want to build the DBL brand as a bold and ambitious player focused on workplace learning and development, especially for early career talent. Making DBL an employer of choice with opportunities for people to grow their careers is also a top priority for me.
Let's explore DBL's focus and mission a bit more. What specific services do you offer and what sets you apart in the learning and development market?
We are laser-focused on developing the skills needed for early career success, from interns to recent graduates to first-time managers. Our services equip these professionals with the human behavioural competencies essential for effectively transitioning into the workplace - skills such as communication, collaboration, problem-solving and resilience.
What sets DBL apart is our immersive learning approach combining insights from behavioural science, psychology and neuroscience. We work closely with each client to deeply understand their culture, needs and talent objectives to create truly personalised, high-impact programmes. Our network of exceptional facilitators makes the learning experience incredibly engaging for early career participants across different industries and regions.
And we go beyond just the training to incorporate assessments, coaching and real-world application to drive skill development and business impact. Ultimately our blend of great content, insights into the learner experience, and adaptable delivery is extremely powerful for transitioning talent into confident, productive contributors.
"What sets DBL apart is our immersive learning approach combining insights from behavioural science, psychology and neuroscience."
"We activate learning in a way that sticks for the long-term."
How does DBL differentiate itself in the crowded learning and development marketplace? What is your secret sauce?
We stand out by truly customising our programmes based on deep insights into organisational and learner needs. Before designing anything, we work closely with clients to identify critical skill gaps and objectives, mapping our offerings directly to those.
Our secret sauce combines behavioural science principles into fun, active sessions delivered by an incredible facilitator network skilled at engaging early career talent. Instead of a one-size-fits all curriculum, we personalise the learning journey for each audience.
And we support beyond just the training with assessments, coaching and on-the-job reinforcement to drive adoption and impact. It's this blend of great content, insights into the individual experience, and adaptable delivery that makes our approach so powerful compared to off-the-shelf solutions. We activate learning in a way that sticks for the long-term.
Can you share a real-world example highlighting the long-lasting impact DBL drives for clients?
Absolutely. We've partnered with a major global financial services company since 2020 to support their graduate, apprentice and intern talent across different countries and functions. It's an incredibly diverse group with varying backgrounds and local norms to consider.
By working closely with them to deeply understand their strategy and skills objectives, we've tailored learning journeys so that they are personalised and impactful despite participants spanning regions and roles. We combine great content with embedded coaching, assessment and real-world application.
Over 3-4 years, they've seen dramatic improvements in workforce agility, global collaboration, and transition of early talent into impactful roles. We've helped create better cohesion of their people and practices across regions. And retention, productivity, time to performance and promotion rates have tangibly increased across their emerging talent cohorts after going through DBL programs.
The proof is in our enduring partnership - when you make a transformational impact on talent capability and business performance, clients stay with you for the long haul.
"We've tailored learning journeys so that they are personalised and impactful despite participants spanning regions and roles."
"It's acknowledging remote work impacts emerging talent disproportionately and addressing that through more iterative, personalised transitions focused on culture, role clarity and relationship building."
Hybrid and remote work poses particular challenges for onboarding and developing early career talent. What advice do you have for organisations struggling with this?
We're running a campaign helping companies address the expectation gap between new joiners and their managers. Early talent often feel lost navigating a new culture and lack of in-person interactions.
Organisations can overcome this by better understanding incoming skill levels, bringing groups together initially for immersive learning, and engaging the manager population more actively in development - from allocating time to reinforcing and applying lessons. Also ensure remote workloads have meaning, variety and connections to the work environment.
It's acknowledging remote work impacts emerging talent disproportionately and addressing that through more iterative, personalised transitions focused on culture, role clarity and relationship building. The payoff is much higher engagement, productivity and retention.
How does DBL typically partner with HR/L&D leaders to create high-impact talent development initiatives?
We collaborate very closely, taking time upfront to deeply understand their strategy, objectives, existing efforts and challenges. That shapes tailored learning journeys tightly aligned to business goals, whether it's driving change, performance or culture.
Together we map skills and metrics to create a "golden thread" linking organisational needs to talent program outcomes. Our immersive, modular approach makes adoption easy across delivery modes like virtual, in-person and online learning. We leverage existing best practices but customise them to each audience and environment.
The combination of strategic alignment, adaptable content and reinforcement ensures learning sticks on the job. And we continually diagnose progress through detailed metrics because great partnerships track impact beyond just training satisfaction. It's an integrated, human-centred approach that drives real capability improvements.
"The combination of strategic alignment, adaptable content and reinforcement ensures learning sticks on the job."
"If people see accelerated development and progression, they stay."
What’s your advice for organisations struggling to engage and retain young talent? Where should they start?
It begins with clearly defining and communicating your employee value proposition - what makes you stand out and the careers you enable. Be honest about differentiation and invest equally in internal talent practices versus external branding.
Have early tenure employees directly involved in attraction and retention initiatives - they best understand the experience. And use talent programs to reinforce positioning; our content and facilitators become brand ambassadors.
Ultimately it's about aligning individual growth with organisational success. If people see accelerated development and progression, they stay. That comes from personalised learning approaches like DBL's which activate capability through science-based insights.
What are the most critical skills you see young professionals needing to thrive in today’s environment?
The core human behaviours such as communication, problem-solving and resilience don't change much. But how those skills are developed and applied evolves based on tech-enabled roles, globalisation, and other external factors.
Storytelling now means mastering data visualisation and AI writing tools, for example. And personalisation is increasingly vital to optimise learning styles across generations and neurodiversity.
While the foundations of critical skills remain constant, DBL focuses on refreshing developmental approaches to activate capability tailored to each organisation's unique context. It's about blending science-based insights with emerging tools so critical skills stay relevant to young professionals' environment and career journeys.
"It's about blending science-based insights with emerging tools so critical skills stay relevant to young professionals' environment and career journeys."
"DBL will lead the way in proving out these innovations at scale - like using smart content algorithms so individuals build knowledge cumulatively over time."
What emerging innovations or trends in workplace learning most excite you? How do you see DBL leveraging these ahead?
I'm passionate about accelerating adoption of human-centred tech like personalised nudges and digital badges to drive capability activation. And broadening beyond just learning to connect assessments, engagement data and work scenarios for more integrated development.
DBL will lead the way in proving out these innovations at scale - like using smart content algorithms so individuals build knowledge cumulatively over time. And incorporating collaboration tools to make learning experiential.
We'll also keep pushing the industry to track detailed progress metrics focused on business impact vs. standalone training satisfaction. The future of workplace learning is exceeding expectations, not just meeting them. DBL wants to set those elevated standards.
How has your own career trajectory shaped DBL's outlook on continual learning?
Through my varied leadership roles, I've seen first-hand how the most successful people stay inquisitive, take risks to build capabilities, and take ownership of personal growth. But organisations must actively empower that journey by fostering a supportive environment.
DBL has distilled these insights into our continual learning philosophy. We believe development requires the right blend of theory, real-world application and properly timed experiences. Our science-backed content, on-the-job coaching, and business impact metrics aim to curate that end-to-end.
And we walk the talk as an organisation. I encourage our experts to constantly invest in new skills and perspectives for individual and collective benefit, regardless of seniority. It propagates a culture of fresh thinking, energy and leading by example.
"We believe development requires the right blend of theory, real-world application and properly timed experiences."
About DBL
For organisations seeking to nurture their future leaders, Development Beyond Learning (DBL) is the premier Learning & Development partner for the early talent workforce. Their distinctive approach involves tailoring engaging content and delivery methods to athe unique needs of each client.
Armed with over 17 years of experience guiding employees through career transitions and changes, their personalised programmes are grounded in behavioural science and are designed to provide comprehensive learning paths that instil life-changing human skills. The ultimate benefit is a confident, effective, and engaged workforce.
What sets them apart is their focus on early career development, and their solid history of success in bringing about real, long-lasting results.