701 The Business Case for Learning: Driving Employee Engagement at accesso
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM Wednesday, March 27
Management and Strategy
Salon 16
Recent job numbers show that unemployment is moving toward all-time lows, which means the talent wars are getting increasingly competitive among businesses fighting to attract and retain top workers. Even flashy perks like ping-pong, free food, and wine o’clocks are not enough to gain a true talent advantage. New research proves the most coveted benefits are those with substance, that aid professional growth and personal well-being. Not only do development perks provide a competitive hiring edge, but employees given the opportunity to learn at work are also more engaged and interested in their jobs.
This session will dive into how accesso's VP of people has incorporated resounding feedback from employees requesting development opportunities and prioritized meaningful benefits across the organization. This session will discuss why businesses should move past the ping-pong perk hype and toward benefits like employee learning and development, which can not only offer a competitive edge but also increase engagement and ultimately, retention. Attendees will walk away with an understanding of how to make the business case for learning and development to stakeholders throughout the organization.
In this session, you will learn:
- How accesso leveraged employee feedback to create and drive its L&D strategy
- What specific L&D and people-centric initiatives accesso rolled out to the organization
- How strong L&D programs impact accesso's ability to remain competitive for talent
- What impact L&D has made on the business, and how other organizations can make the business case to stakeholders
Audience:
Managers and senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.)
Technology discussed in this session:
Internal platforms as well as learning platforms

Shelley Osborne
Head of Learning Experience
Modal
Shelley Osborne is passionate about creating corporate learning cultures that enable continuous skills development and nurture a growth mindset to drive employee engagement and company performance. She has over 15 years of experience across the education, consulting, and corporate sectors. Shelley is currently the head of learning experience at Modal. Recently, Shelley was the vice president of learning at Udemy, where she led the company's learning strategy and continuous upskilling of employees globally. In her work, she often leverages innovative technologies and fresh approaches like virtual reality and gamification to drive lasting engagement.

Maura Schiefelbein
VP of People
accesso
Maura Schiefelbein, vice president of people at accesso, is focused on attracting, engaging, and developing accesso’s most important asset—its people. This includes developing organization-wide, talent-related solutions, as well as partnering with business leaders to plan and implement organizational change while continuing to foster accesso’s unique culture reflective of our core values. Schiefelbein has 15+ years of experience as a human resources practitioner working for Fortune 500 companies such as Fed Ex and Accenture, where she was accepted into the first Global HR Leadership Development program for the company. Most recently, she worked for ADP in a business partner role, which entailed consulting on varied human resources initiatives for her client base.