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Kyle Lagunas

Ideator, Strategist, Loudmouth - Emerging Trends & Technologies - World of Work

Kyle Lagunas is currently the Head of Strategy & Principal Analyst at Aptitude Research, a position he has held since August 2022.15 He is a seasoned professional in the HR and talent technology space with over a decade of experience studying innovation cycles in this field.13

Prior to his current role, Lagunas served as:

  1. Head of Talent Attraction, Sourcing & Insight at General Motors (April 2021 - August 2022)5
  2. Director of Strategy at Beamery (May 2019 - April 2021)5
  3. Research Director at IDC (March 2019)5

At Beamery, his role as Director of Strategy put him at the intersection of customer experience, sales and marketing, and product.13 Lagunas is known for being a transformational talent leader, top industry analyst, and non-nonsense strategist with a reputation for bringing fresh perspectives to the table.13

His LinkedIn username is indeed kylelagunas.24 Recently, on May 7, 2024, he posted a humorous update about trying to use the word "palatial" in a selfie caption at Caesar's Palace.4

Highlights

Jul 18 · linkedin

RESEARCH RELEASE!!!

Laurie Ruettimann and I have spent the last year studying the current state of #performancemanagement. Today, we've published a white paper underwritten by our partners at Cornerstone OnDemand that analyzes survey responses of over 250 HR leaders on their current programs--what they're prioritizing, the impact they're having, the obstacles they face, and the factors driving greater success.

Our key finding: Despite a strong sense of "good enough" among HR leaders today (80% rated their current programs as EFFECTIVE or VERY EFFECTIVE), most of these programs aren't moving the needle in any meaningful way. They're not driving employee growth and productivity, they're not driving employee retention, and they're not improving employee (or manager) experience.

Are we surprised? I'm not!

What did surprise me was that those companies that are making a difference aren't doing much differently in terms of frequency, scope, or structure of performance management programs. Rather, the biggest differences came down to three things:

  1. An obsession with intelligence. Those companies which were having greater impact in performance management weren't collecting different data--the types of data gathered was much the same for effective and ineffective companies. The leaders were collecting more structured, more actionable, more comprehensive data--and delivering greater insight to their stakeholders.

  2. A new focus on enablement. While NOT EFFECTIVE companies were prioritizing Executive Leadership ahead of all other stakeholders in performance management, VERY EFFECTIVE companies were prioritizing Employees and Managers. Manager enablement and employee engagement were key focuses for this cohort.

  3. An investment in AI. Our research found a clear correlation among those companies leveraging AI in #talentmanagement and the impact of their performance management programs. Conversely, those companies still on the fence about the effectiveness of AI in HR are falling further behind the curve.

Our white paper is available for download on the Aptitude Research research library today! Keep your eyes peeled for a webinar where we'll be walking through key findings live!

May 23 · linkedin

Travel has been non-stop this spring, but I finally found a moment to put together my key takeaways from this year's Workday Innovation Summit.

Some highlights:

  • Workday is leaning into its legacy of trust as it goes big into AI and courts a new customer persona: The CIO.
  • Workday is going big into partnerships this year as a key part of its go-to-market
  • Workday's acquisition of HiredScore has the whole team buzzing with the possibilities of orchestration AI

Still to come on the Aptitude blog: Write-ups of Phenom's Analyst Day and Oracle's Apps Summit. I'll sleep when I'm dead! :)

Related Questions

What are some key strategies Kyle Lagunas has implemented at Beamery?
How did Kyle Lagunas' role at General Motors influence his approach at Beamery?
What are the main challenges Kyle Lagunas addresses in his role at Aptitude Research?
How does Kyle Lagunas' background as both a practitioner and analyst benefit his strategy work?
What innovative trends in HR technology is Kyle Lagunas currently studying?
Kyle Lagunas
Kyle Lagunas, photo 1
Kyle Lagunas, photo 2
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Location

Boston, Massachusetts