| | JUNE 2025MANAGEHRMAGAZINE.COM8In MyOpinionBy Heather Torres, Director of Learning and Development, Brown & Brown Heather Torres is the Director of Learning and Development at Brown & Brown. In this role, she focuses on strategically partnering with leaders and stakeholders across the business segment. Her primary responsibility is shaping impactful learning experiences to support individual employee growth and organizational performance.Torres concentrates on designing and delivering initiatives to build necessary skills and foster confidence among teammates, ensuring these programs align closely with core business objectives. The central tenet of her work is empowering teammates to succeed, driven by the principle that individual growth directly fuels the company's collective success.Through this article, Torres shares practical insights on critical L&D topics, addressing learning engagement barriers, navigating AI's impact on skills, fostering DEI partnerships for equity, and offering encouraging advice for aspiring L&D leaders.Boosting Learning Engagement: Tackle Time, Direction & Delivery FitSome of the most frequently underestimated barriers to effective learning engagement involve three core factors: individual capacity, clarity of direction, and the method of delivery.Many teammates express feeling "too busy" to engage with learning opportunities. However, this sentiment can often signal an underlying need for better support with time management or delegation skills. If an individual feels perpetually too busy to learn techniques that could ultimately save them time, that situation itself is a significant red flag requiring attention.A lack of clear direction presents another hidden challenge. People generally possess a desire to grow professionally, but they don't always know what specific skills or knowledge areas to pursue next for meaningful advancement. This is precisely where Learning and Development can provide crucial value by offering career-aligned guidance and structured learning pathways that make professional growth feel tangible and achievable.Lastly, the delivery method matters profoundly. A one-size-fits-all approach is rarely practical in learning. Whether it's a collaborative sales workshop best conducted in person or a technical skills training well-suited to focused, self-paced desk learning, the format must align appropriately with the learning objective and the learner's context. Prioritizing flexibility in delivery ensures greater inclusion and effectively supports every teammate, regardless of their specific role, physical location, or individual life circumstances.Mid-Career Skills for the AI Era: Partner with AI, Don't CompeteThere's considerable anxiety surrounding AI and automation--especially for mid-career professionals--but the reality is that most roles won't simply be replaced by AI. The more significant risk lies in being displaced by someone who understands how to leverage AI tools effectively.AI isn't designed to perform your entire job. It doesn't independently "think" or make strategic decisions--it operates based on patterns and the prompts it receives. This means your strategic input, critical thinking, and professional discernment are required to be truly useful. The genuine value of AI emerges in how it can support your work, primarily by freeing up valuable time from repetitive tasks, allowing you to concentrate on the higher-impact work that genuinely moves the needle. The crucial first step is developing a clear understanding of what AI is (and isn't). These tools aren't magical or monolithic--different tools have different strengths. They are also fundamentally different from search engines, a common misconception. Learning how BELIEVE, PARTNER, GROW: CORE PRINCIPLES FOR L&D SUCCESSHeather Torres
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