The Herman Trend Alert

March 3, 2021

Developing Employees with Positive Digital Experiences

I have been waiting for years to see the promise of Artificial Intelligence applied to developing employees. Recently, my podcast partner, Ira Wolfe and I interviewed Jason Cochran of Dulead and iAspire (the educational institution arm). Jason's product keeps that commitment and more. Imagine as a leader having an always-on, alter ego there to develop your direct reports? That solution is what this software delivers.

The Benefits of Dulead

The company calls it a (Virtual) Director of Leadership & Development. By implementing a playbook of best practices, the system aligns, develops, and retains people. Dulead performs this "magic" automatically----and continuously over time---by providing personalized, holistic coaching. The net result is that employees are highly engaged in pursuing their own growth. Employees develop a clarity of purpose, values, and traits and their roles and responsibilities, through intentional, consistent engagement. With continuous feedback, employees discover and achieve their potentials. And not surprisingly, Dulead reduces unwanted employee turnover.

How Dulead Works

Without apps to download, passwords to remember, or difficult websites to find, Dulead offers invisible technology with one-click participation. This system facilitates employees working collaboratively. They feel empowered to communicate with clarity and take ownership of their results. Through the system, they get to connect with their direct supervisors in meaningful ways. While living out the values of the organization, employees find joy and meaning in their work and are challenged to devise innovative solutions for problems. The software also reinforces that the leadership is committed to improving the organization's culture.

Pulse Surveys provide Feedback on How Well It's Working

Built into the system are pulse surveys which let leaders know how well they are doing as well as how their employees are progressing. Culture surveys are integrated seamlessly to deliver periodic feedback.

Four Areas of Focus

The four areas the (Virtual) Director of Leadership & Development focuses on are Recognition, Feedback, Teamwork, and Growth:

What Gets Recognized Gets Repeated. Built into the system is encouragement for people to regularly celebrate and appreciate your people. The system combines research and inspiration to motivate people to grow. It infuses best practices that have been shown to be effective at work. It challenges people to take action and practice the skills they are learning and automatically includes others in employees' growth and progress. And finally, it identifies the next steps beyond this coaching to continue developing this area. The system also responds to the top complaint across almost all employee engagement and satisfaction surveys which is that people don't feel recognized or appreciated for their efforts. Your (Virtual) Director of Leadership & Development will create a regular cadence of recognition in your organization. Everyone will have regular opportunities to celebrate their coworkers and the wins your organization is experiencing!

People Always Want to Know How They Are Doing. One of the features of the software is that it receives and encourages regular and consistent actionable feedback. The (Virtual) Director of Leadership & Development provides regular prompts to your managers and supervisors to give actionable feedback to help their people grow and perform their best. Your managers will also be coached on what effective feedback looks like and how to provide it.

Healthy Team Relationships Make a Big Difference. With coaching, supervisors learn to build healthy team relationships. In this module, people learn to use best practices around important topics like emotional intelligence, ownership, communication, team dynamics, and more.

People Want to Be Better Tomorrow Than They Are Today. When people are engaged in ongoing growth opportunities, everybody wins. The Growth Plans module uses a proven strategy to help employees make progress on what matters most to them.

Remarkably Affordable, Too!

I was quite startled to discover just how affordable this system was. The entire (Virtual) Director of Leadership & Development system with all of its bells and whistles costs less than USD $500/month for most organizations. And even with customization, it is surprisingly reasonable. Plus, there are no long-term commitments, so it can be canceled at any time.

Truly a Sign of Things to Come

Dulead's software is one of the first AI systems to do the important work of developing employees; it certainly won't be the last.

Special thanks to Jason Cochran for taking the time with me. For more information, email Jason at  jason.cochran@dulead.com or find him at on LinkedIn.