Co-Authoring Success: How L&D Partnered with AI and HR to Elevate Frontline Leadership

Heather Frommack, Learning & Talent Development Leader, Titan America

Heather Frommack, a senior Learning & Talent Development leader, specializes in transformative learning, leadership development and cultural intelligence. With a master’s in educational psychology and extensive experience in L&D strategy, she leverages neuroscience-backed approaches to drive organizational change, employee engagement and inclusive leadership.

As an ATD Master Facilitator and CCL & DISC Certified Coach, Heather has designed and implemented large-scale learning initiatives, DEI programs and cross-cultural leadership development strategies. She currently leads enterprise-wide learning strategy at Titan America and is the founder of Cultural Intelligence Partners, helping organizations build diverse, high-performing teams. Passionate about empowering individuals and fostering continuous learning cultures, she integrates instructional design, change management and innovative education models to create impactful, people-centred development programs.

Through this article, Frommack emphasizes the importance of structured frontline leadership development and highlights Titan America’s AI-driven BUILD program as a scalable, cost-effective solution that equips leaders to demonstrate the power of investing in people-centered leadership to drive organizational success.

The script for frontline leadership often reads like a tragedy. Skilled individual contributors are promoted yet find themselves unprepared for the realities of leading people.

The backbone of manufacturing, these leaders oversee 80 percent of the workforce (Gallup, 2021), shape employee engagement, drive operational efficiency and impact the bottom line. Yet, they are frequently overlooked when it comes to leadership development.

A staggering 67 percent of frontline managers feel they are improvising due to a lack of structured training (Training Industry, 2024) and many struggles with the “Buddy to Boss” transition of leading former peers.

We decided to change the script at Titan America but faced a formidable challenge. Create a scalable, high-impact program for over 200 frontline leaders across 100+ locations, diverse cultures and multiple business units.

With tight deadlines and limited resources, our lean L&D team, in consultation with the Titan America executive leadership team, partnered with local HR business partners and Generative AI to amplify capabilities, customize content, and extend reach, collaboratively co-authoring the program. The result was BUILD (Building, Upskilling, Inspiring, Leading, Developing), a customized, cost-effective, and agile development program designed to equip our frontline leaders with the skills they need to succeed.

BUILD: A Strategic Framework

BUILD incorporates a strategic framework for a new approach.

• In-House Design Expertise: Our L&D team owned the instructional design in partnership with AI, ensuring alignment with Titan's leadership competencies and maximizing cost efficiency.

• Six-Month, Six-Module Curriculum: A six-month, one-module-per-month program blended in-person training with hands-on-learning and on-the-job reinforcement.

• Participant Waves: BUILD is structured with one wave per year, engaging 80 frontline leaders across the organization in each cohort to maximize reach and impact.

• HR Facilitation: Local HR leaders, the "BUILD Team," facilitated the program onsite, building trust and fostering relevance for participants.

• Strategic Reinforcement: Participants received tailored job aids to support on-the-job application, while managers were provided with monthly virtual updates and resources to sustain learning and reinforce leadership growth.

"Our L&D team needed an innovative solution and we partnered with invaluable co-authors, like ChatGPT and Perplexity AI. The result was BUILD (Building, Upskilling, Inspiring, Leading, Developing), a customized, cost-effective and agile program designed to equip our frontline leaders with the skills they need to succeed"

AI Co-Authors: Using ChatGPT and Perplexity for Customizing Instructional Design

Leveraging ChatGPT and Perplexity as co-authors allowed us to accelerate content development, enhance customization, and free up valuable L&D resources.

Both ChatGPT and Perplexity AI served different instructional design functions:

• ChatGPT: Content Generation and Personalization: We tasked ChatGPT with:

• Generating role-playing exercises and real-world examples.

• Editing facilitator scripts and discussion questions.

• Suggesting modifications to tailor content based on unique learning personas.

• Perplexity AI: Research and Information Curation: Perplexity generated:

• Up-to-date research on industry trends and leadership challenges.

• Insights into industry best practices in leadership development

• Learning metrics and impact analysis tools to measure training effectiveness.

The Prompting Process: 

Ask AI to "adopt the persona” by including specific key details including:

• Leader role (e.g., “plant supervisor,” “leadman”)

• Operational context (e.g., “a cement plant during a high-demand production run”)

• Desired learning outcomes (e.g., communication, conflict resolution)

• Human Review and Refinement: Our L&D and BUILD teams reviewed and refined the AI-generated content to ensure accuracy, relevance, and alignment with Titan America's values and policies.

Results: Tangible Business Impact

• 86.8% CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score): Surpassing the 70-90% industry benchmark.

• 39% NPS (Net Promoter Score): Indicating a strong, positive response to the program.

• 81 Leaders Graduated from Wave 1: Demonstrating the program’s reach and scalability.

• Low Cost Per Participant: Achieving highly efficient use of L&D resources.

We continue to track BUILD’s long-term impact with metrics such as Training Transfer Rates (TTR) and Performance Improvement Scores (PIS).

Key Takeaways: Lessons Learned

As our leaders continuously grow and adapt, BUILD will evolve to meet their needs.

Wave one provided valuable insights for improvement.

Expanding Participation: Given BUILD’s cost-effectiveness and proven impact, future Waves will expand beyond operations, using AI to tailor content to leaders in all business areas.

Focusing on Branded Incentives: While digital badges offered value, frontline leaders found branded swag more impactful in reinforcing program identity and fostering pride.

L&D Team Facilitation: As the L&D team expands, facilitation will transition from the BUILD Team while maintaining collaboration for program relevance.

An Actionable Blueprint for Success

As we continue gathering data to refine our approach, the BUILD framework ensures Titan America develops well-equipped, people-centered leaders who drive lasting impact.

For HR and L&D professionals seeking similar results:

1. Prioritize frontline leadership development – make it a strategic imperative.

2. Design for scalability from the outset – consider AI-driven solutions.

3. Leverage AI - for customized content, industry best practices, and data analytics.

4. Empower L&D - to drive impactful, scalable initiatives.

By intentionally investing in our people and strategically embracing technology, we can all write a better leadership story for our organizations.

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