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Dennis is the president and chief operating officer of Udemy. He is responsible for directing all business-related activities and scaling Udemy's operations domestically and globally, overseeing its sales, marketing, business development and business operations functions. Prior to joining Udemy, Dennis was the senior vice president of operations at 4INFO, a leading mobile advertising technology company. Dennis has worked with multiple Silicon Valley technology companies since 1999. He completed his undergraduate studies at Northwestern University and received his MBA from Stanford University.

Dennis Yang

ATD Links Archive - ATD Links

Beyond the MOOC Hype: What It Really Means for Corporate Training

A More Sustainable Business Model for MOOCs

For 70 years, Denny’s has been an icon in the casual dining industry, building on its proud position as “America’s Diner.” To live up to its reputation of being a place where everyone is welcome, the company had to make diversity, equity, inclusion, and well-being a top priority.Beyond creating a safe and welcoming workplace, Denny’s leadership recognized that investing in DEI would improve employee engagement, reduce absenteeism, and improve overall financial performance. Additionally, prioritizing employee well-being can lower healthcare costs, increase productivity, and improve financial outcomes.Ultimately, the goal of these efforts is to establish a community where everyone feels valued, appreciated, and accepted as they are—and not just for guests but for team members as well. The challenge, as is often the case with large organizations, was finding a way to enact meaningful and sustainable change for all employees.The numbers don’t lie. Research shows that when employees feel a genuine sense of inclusion and belonging, their work performance increases by 56 percent, while sick days decrease by 75 percent, and the risk of turnover drops by half. Yet, just a single incident of micro-exclusion can lead to an immediate 25 percent decline in an individual’s performance.So, where to begin?Learning From the PastThe Denny’s brand has had its share of missteps over the years, culminating in a multi-million-dollar settlement payout in a 1994 racial bias lawsuit. Rather than bury or shy away from its past, however, the company has used this as an opportunity to learn and improve. The result: 58 percent of Denny’s restaurants are minority-owned. Likewise, among our board members, 56 percent come from underrepresented groups, and 44 percent are women. Yet, even with numbers trending in the right direction, Denny’s leadership recognized the need for ongoing and substantive DEI and well-being efforts.The fact is that most organizations approach DEI and well-being by providing a traditional one-day workshop. Unfortunately, this tactic fails to create awareness or generate an authentic change in the mindset or behaviors of many participants. Hence, the Denny’s Together initiative was born.Create a Place for AllThe Denny’s Together culture journey comprises several elements that support each other. The first is learning and embodying Denny’s “Rules to Live By,” which offers a set of foundational expectations that inform how team members treat Denny’s guests and one another. The L&D (leadership and development) team delivers interactive webinars and e-lessons to share these “rules” with restaurant team members.To boost awareness about DEI and well-being among Denny’s corporate team members, we offer the Go Beyond program. This collaborative program challenges participants to go on a journey of self-discovery as they take a deep dive into the advantages, barriers, and science of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Over 30 days, the program uses daily challenges to encourage team members to observe and explore their individual experiences and beliefs with compassion and curiosity.For example, Go Beyond kicks off with “reflection” activities, which include conversations led by other people leaders within the organization. In addition, there are community events where participants gather to share food and dialogue aided by conversation cards with specific reflection questions like, "What did you learn about bias and how it impacts your decision making?"What’s more, themed daily challenges and reflections, such as: “What Is Appearance Discrimination” and “How to Minimize the Bias Impact,” work to open participants’ minds about their own biases, attitudes, and relationships, while also coming together as one big Denny’s family. Example topics covered in these daily challenges include representation, appearance discrimination, implicit bias, inclusive language, empathy, bias blind spots, micro-affirmations, and allyship. Here’s an example of a daily challenge:Example of Daily ChallengeThe DEI Council and Business Resource Groups champion the theme. Team leaders discuss and reflect on challenge topics in meetings, and a weekly email supports exploring the challenges.To sweeten the pot and generate as much engagement as possible, raffles and giveaways for various challenges gamify the overall experience. For instance, all participants who complete challenges are entered to win a grand prize of two roundtrip airfare tickets to anywhere in the continental United States.Lasting ChangeThere were many lessons learned from the first two years of the Denny’s Together and Go Beyond programs. The four most powerful ones are:1. Get full buy-in from all key executives.2. Understand the culture you are starting with.3. Establish a sense of trust and safety for employees to freely participate.4. Set a high standard and invite employees to participate without a requirementIn addition to understanding that DEI efforts must be immersive to be effective, Denny’s leadership recognizes that achieving an entire cultural transformation that will affect the company from the top down and the bottom up requires an ongoing effort.But to measure the fruits of these efforts so far and guide future iterations, Denny’s leadership embarked on a comprehensive initiative to survey participants on how they felt about the Go Beyond program and the brand in general from a DEI perspective.Nearly all participants (94 percent) of team members felt that the Go Beyond program was an engaging experience, with 73 percent saying that it helped them grow as individuals. In fact, it was such a positive experience that 60 percent said they would be eager to participate again.More importantly, 82 percent of participants said they would recommend Denny’s as an employer, largely because of initiatives like this.Building on the success of Denny’s Together and the initial Go Beyond challenge, the company recently completed the second Go Beyond challenge, this time with the theme of Empowered Well-Being. Likewise, also in the works is the Championing Humanity challenge, a four-week reflection that will help participants discover what active allyship looks like, what shared power means, and most importantly, how to create a safe place for all.Moving forward, the L&D team is also working on rolling out a new leadership development program called Elevating the Power of We. This two-day, cohort-based program will have participants explore how to communicate in a supportive way, cultivate empathy and compassion, and genuinely listen to other people’s stories and perspectives.At Denny’s today, individuals are viewed as holistic beings. As such, their physical, emotional, and mental well-being must be prioritized. This is why Denny’s leadership is on a mission to create a brand that actively promotes mental fitness and overall empowered well-being. By creating a safe place to have candid conversations about real things that matter to real people, Denny’s is well on its way to creating a culture that embraces differences, welcomes personal stories, and celebrates all voices.

Denny’s Together

 How well do you communicate during times of complex or unpopular change? Our communication skills in explaining a change are as important as our analytical skills in planning and coordinating it. Indeed, the capability of leaders working in government to speak simply, clearly, and persuasively during complex or difficult change is important—but not easy. It is a key factor in guiding our organizations to a successful outcome. Communicating persuasively during change is my area of professional interest. It is a topic I have taught for many years, and it is at the heart of the consulting that I do. During my experience working with government leaders, I have learned that there are two major hurdles when communicating during a time of change: complexity and resistance. The #1 hurdle is simplifying the complexity of the change. However complex it might be, we must speak in language that is easy to understand. Here are a few tips to do that: Explain in the simplest terms possible the compelling business case for the change. Discuss three brief but sound reasons the change makes good business sense, and three ways our organization stands to benefit from the change. If we haven’t figured this out, trouble lies ahead. Without a clear understanding of the reasons for a change, even our early adopters may lose focus and energy.  Break the change process into small, simple steps. Change is inherently complex, but it must be made to seem simple. If we haven’t figured out the small, simple steps people are to take, more trouble lies ahead. Complex instructions lead to stupid or misguided behavior. Simple instructions lead to straightforward and sophisticated behavior. The #2 hurdle is handling resistance to the change. We must soften up the resistance and open up the resisters to become participants in the change process. Here are a few tips: React positively to any resistance; be glad to hear it and listen well. Resistance from people affected by change—even seemingly small change—is normal, natural, and even healthy. They may have vital concerns or information that we may overlook. And just letting them vent shock, anger, and resistance is often necessary before they can accept change.Recruit a few respected champions to speak up for the change. Have early adopters help communicate the need for the change. Ask them to explain the steps in the change process. Resisters are often persuaded more quickly by their peers than by management. A few negative people don’t have to be detrimental if we handle their resistance well. A lot of negative resistance may indicate a bigger problem that must be addressed—a lack of trust in the leadership for the change. Bottom line: Communication is the lifeblood of every organization, and especially so during times of change. Good communication can shape consensus and motivate action to make the change come to life and take hold.For more insight managing in turbulent times, join me for my session, “Change Management in Challenging Times**,”** at Government Workforce: Learning Innovations.  I will discuss how to manage change while preserving your agency’s ability to get the job done.

How to Communicate Effectively During Change

Fasika Melaku is the SVP, Chief Human Resources and Chief Learning Officer Denny’s Corporation. She is responsible for growing and nurturing the Denny’s culture and operationalizing its ethos—that clarify what is needed from employees to transform the company, ensuring our ability to provide a realiable guest experience and truly deliver for learners.Fasika has a cross-industry track record of successfully unlocking the potential of teams by tapping into the skills and passions of people and the leaders who guide them. Prior to joining Denny’s, Melaku held the position as Vice President of Restaurant Training and Recruiting for Taco Bueno Restaurants, a 161-unit company with annual revenues of $200 million based in Dallas, Texas. In that role Fasika Melaku focused on building a culture of people and operational excellence throughout the organization and building department credibility by establishing collaborative relationships with her peers and operations management.Before that, Fasika Melaku held a variety of roles in operations and HR leadership with Brinker International and Darden Restaurant Group. Within those roles, she worked on delivering learning solutions and driving long-range organizational initiatives including the implantation of broad-range of talent processes, including recruitment and on-boarding, performance management and succession planning, executive assessments, employee surveys, and leadership development programs. She is actively involved in the community and sits on the board of the Urban League of the Upstate.

Fasika Melaku

“Leadership is a matter of how to be, not how to do.”That quote, from the legendary Frances Hesselbein, supports her enduring passion for creating the leaders of the future who are “mission-based, values-based, and demographics-driven.”The Association for Talent Development mourns the loss of Hesselbein, a supporter and champion of talent development and learning. She passed away December 11 at the age of 107.She was a keynote speaker at the ATD 2003 International Conference & EXPO and a recipient of (then) ASTD’s Champion of Workplace Learning and Performance Award in 2005. She also authored the chapter “Leading the Workforce of the Future” in The ASTD Leadership Handbook.“Our Champion award is given to an individual whose advocacy, commitment, and actions in support of learning and development have influenced audiences and organizations, and Frances exemplifies the spirit of this award,” said Tony Bingham, ATD President and CEO. “We’re grateful for the decades of thought leadership that she generously shared with our global talent development community.”As a pioneer in her work with leadership and social service, Hesselbein was a visionary and extraordinary leader who was an early adopter of diversity and inclusion. Best known for her 13 years as CEO of the Girl Scouts, she spent more than 40 years defining leadership and the value of serving others. In 2022, she received the President’s Volunteer Service Award.“Frances was born in 1915, before women had the right to vote. By the end of her long life, she had refocused the mission of the Girl Scouts of America to equip young women for roles in society and introduced innovative ideas into leadership development,” said Pat Galagan, ATD’s former executive editor. “She advocated a circular management style, which was more inclusive than top-down hierarchies, sharing leadership to ‘the outer edges of the circle.’”“Leadership gurus such as Warren Bennis, Peter Senge, and Jim Collins recognized her as one of the most innovative and inspired leaders of their time,” Galagan continued. “When asked by a journalist who was the greatest CEO in America, Peter Drucker named Hesselbein, saying, ‘Frances Hesselbein could manage any company in America.’”“Frances Hesselbein was one of the most impactful and admirable Level 5 leaders of the 20th century,” author Jim Collins noted. “She taught me that one of the greatest sources of energy is leadership done in a spirit of service. Her most enduring impact is through the multitude of leaders—in business, in the military, in the social sectors—inspired by the guiding principle of her life: ‘To serve is to live.’ We have lost an irreplaceable light in our world, andin our lives. Her greatest gift was her uplifting example.”Her impact on diversity was felt during her time as CEO of the Girl Scouts. She changed the standard Girl Scout handbook by hiring educators and artists to write four different handbooks reflecting the different cultural identities of members.“In my life, I have had the honor to work with many amazing leaders. Frances Hesselbein is the greatest leader that I have ever met,” said Marshall Goldsmith. “She was also the most kind and gracious human being. When I met Frances, I was doing pioneering work in 360-degree feedback that was customized to fit the organization’s values. I volunteered to work with Frances and the Girl Scouts. She ‘led by example,’ was the first to get feedback, and always worked at becoming an even more effective leader. Since then, she has shared her wisdom with many of my CEO clients. Frances Hesselbein will always be my number 1 hero!”She was president and CEO of the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Non-Profit Management (now the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute) and the editor in chief of the award-winning Leader-to-Leader journal. She also served as the Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point.According to her obituary, “Hesselbein served on multiple boards including Pennsylvania Power and Light, Mutual of America, and the Bright China Foundation. She chaired the United Way of Central Pennsylvania. She was invited to the White House by seven different presidents and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998. She was appointed to the Presidential Commissions on National and Community Service by President George \[H.\] W. Bush in 1992 and 1993.”“I will always remember Frances for her leadership in the Girl Scouts and for giving hope and inspiration to everyone she touched at every age,” said Elaine Biech. “She was one of the first people to write about women in leadership and so I often quoted her. One thing that resonated with me was her belief in learning by doing and to me that is what I believe is critical: experiential learning.”Hesselbein wrote two memoirs—Hesselbein on Leadership and My Life in Leadership—and was the co-editor of 27 books published in 29 languages.In an August 11, 2017, Lehigh Valley Style article, “Hesselbein said she hopes she’s remembered for truly practicing what she preaches: ‘Mission. Innovation. Diversity. Those words are my battle cry.’”

In Memoriam: Frances Hesselbein

The worldwide talent development community is diverse. Our members bring a wealth of experience and insight to their work. We're spotlighting their stories.Stephen Remedios has been a member of ATD since 2018 from India. Here's his story in his own words.Tell us a little bit about yourself.I grew up in several cities throughout India, changing schools and friends with every transfer that my father took. After studies in economics and management and a decade in sales and marketing roles, I discovered my true calling: enabling people to achieve their fullest potential in the domain of their biggest strengths. I spent the next decade working with people as a facilitator, coach, and consultant to help them achieve their goals.I live in Bangalore, India with my wife and three boys. I spend most of my personal time indulging the diverse passions of my family. My wife loves gardening; my eldest, electronic dance music; my middle, tennis; and my youngest, word games and spelling bees.What are your personal and professional goals?My personal goal is to create the supporting conditions and scaffolding for everyone in my family to realize their fullest potential in an area of their choosing, which translates into giving them unique experiences that give them a glimpse into their future should they continue to work hard at their craft.At work, I strive to demonstrate the effectiveness of an engaged and enabled organization. Most organization transformations fail because the underlying culture isn’t addressed. There is a people dividend that isn’t being fully realized, and I make it my goal to champion this agenda.What challenges have you had to overcome in your career?Making the shift from sales and marketing to people strategy midcareer was a significant challenge that I had to overcome. When I began on my own as a trainer, facilitator, and coach, I did everything from arranging rooms to training in small towns in $10-a-night hotels. Over the years I gradually progressed from training tellers to CEOs. There were many moments of doubt along the way when I was tempted to go back to doing sales and marketing roles, but I resisted just long enough to get the next break.What’s the most valuable thing you’ve gained or experienced during your membership with ATD?I have always found the State of the Industry reports useful to understanding global trends and the direction of the industry. I make it a point to attend an ATD conference every other year. It is the most efficient way to enhance your network and discover all the newest thinking in our field.Can you share any professional tips, specific to talent development, that you have picked up along the way?I am always struck by the number of people who are living lives that someone told them they ought to be living. The key to talent development is a deep understanding of what you are working with. Executives with decades of experience struggle to articulate what their strengths are, what kind of work renews them, and what kind of people they do their most productive teaming with. Great talent development always begins with a grounded assessment of the individual that’s closely aligned with their perception of self. Once you have that baseline, the sky is the limit.What’s a common misconception you see when it comes to talent development?In talent development there’s this misconception that you can easily buy, build, borrow, or (ro)bot talent when people leave. Replacing quality talent is the hardest thing to do in a world where performance is more transparent than ever before. I often argue that you can clearly establish a talent to value mapping and ascribe revenue to a person with a few simple assumptions. Organizations don’t pay enough attention to their most important players.Do you have any advice for people looking to further their careers?Start by looking at the domains where you do your best work, where you are most energized, and where you whistle to work. Ask your peers and team what you do best. A career is a marathon more than it is a sprint. To get to the finishing line and have enough in the tank for a glorious retirement requires you to think of sustainability earlier rather than later in making career decisions. Building a career that allows you to use your strengths most of the time sets you up for success and sustainability.What is your personal definition of talent development?Investing in an appropriate manner to enable every individual in the organization to perform at their fullest potential in their jobs such that the organization outperforms.How do you stay motivated?Working with many clients who are looking to solve their unique challenges keeps me on my toes. The recent developments in the understanding of how the brain works and the growing stature of behavioral economics in making lasting behavioral change means that we live in exciting times. Being in this domain at this crucial time and having the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution is a huge motivationHow do you find meaning in your work?In this work, you make a lot of friends and build relationships for life. I’m in touch with several people who I have coached or have run workshops for. They call me long after our business transactions are concluded. To know that I have made a difference to another fellow traveler no matter how small creates meaning in my life.Have your own story to tell? Share it with us.

"A Career is a Marathon More Than it is a Sprint"

Prasad is the CEO of the Kaipa Group in California and a frequent speaker in conferences and retreats and co-author of critically acclaimed book “From Smart to Wise: Acting and Leading with Wisdom” published by Jossey Bass in 2013. He works with companies and senior executives in the areas of innovation, leadership development and coaching. He has been a visiting professor at Indian School of Business (ISB) since 2003 and was the founding Executive Director of the Center for Leadership, Innovation and Change (CLIC) and raised multi-million dollar funding to initiate two research cells–SBI Cell for Public Leadership and Biocon Cell for Innovation Management in CLIC. He was a Smith Richardson Visiting Fellow at Center for Creative Leadership between 2010-2011 and was an advisor to Business FAC of Fetzer Institute (2011-2013). Prasad taught executive education programs organized by INSEAD, LBS, USC, Dartmouth and IIM Bangalore in addition to ISB. Prasad has been an advisor and coach focusing on innovation and leadership since 1990 for about 120 C-level executives in Global Fortune 500 companies. Clients included Adobe, Boeing, Disney, Johnson & Johnson, Maxim and Oracle as well as global/entrepreneurial companies like Aztec, Advanta, BAE Systems, Lunar Design, Mastek, Olixir, Polaris, State Bank of India and Scintera Networks. The purpose of Prasad’s innovation/leadership coaching is to ignite the genius within individuals. Prasad’s unique competence is in helping his clients find their next significant step and take it. He found that unless he helps clients to examine their signature strengths that have turned into “core incompetence” and kept them stuck, it is difficult to ignite and channel their creativity to come up with innovative decisions, products, and services. He assists clients in becoming effective in managing people as well as oneself (personal mastery), getting reenergized and building new capacities, and taking more risks, in addition to innovative and strategic decisions. Prasad co-founded the Entrepreneur Institute for TiE in the Silicon Valley in 2002 to assist entrepreneurs develop soft skills and connect, engage and co-create effectively with others in the ecosystem. Over 13,000 entrepreneurs have gone through TiE Institute programs. He is a part-time faculty member at the Saybrook University and works with students in the areas of creativity and innovation, transformational learning and leadership. Prasad is/was on the board of directors/trustees for International Leadership Association (ILA), Marico Innovation Foundation, Samskrita Bharati USA, Integral Leadership Review, Lead India 2020, Society for Organizational Learning (SoL), Aankhen, Mentor Cloud, Intertec Communications, and Hindu University of North America. Prasad also worked as an educator/consultant with 100+ companies like Areva, AT&T, A.P. Moeller Maersk, Canara Bank, Exxon Mobil, Ford, Pepsi (Quaker Oats), Navteq, Sasken, Sun, Syngenta, and Union Bank in the areas of leadership, change management, innovation and management team development. Cisco and HP have worked with Prasad in developing innovative business models for creating a successful new business and in innovating unique, “brandable” product designs that are consistent with their culture. As a senior manager in Apple, Prasad was asked to create an educational menu for Apple engineers using innovative learning approaches. In 1999, as a research fellow in the Apple University, with a charter to help design ‘a learning processor that augments human intelligence,’ Prasad interviewed high achievers and exceptional people researching how they learn (and ‘unlearn’), create, communicate, relate and lead. Prasad got his doctorate in physics, and as a professor in the University of Utah helped build an international research laboratory with Dr. Ed Haskell. Athena Interactive released three award winning CD-ROMs for leaders based on his learning interface concepts and his pyramid building (thinking in three dimensions) methodology. In addition to ‘From Smart to Wise’ (http://www.fromsmarttowise.com) Prasad published an e-book ‘Discontinuous Learning: Igniting Genius Within by Aligning Self, Work, and Family’ and many of his writings and tools are available at http://www.kaipagroup.com. He writes a blog regularly on innovation and leadership in HBR.org and has published articles in Business Week, Forbes, Fortune, and New York Times. He twitter handles are @pkaipa and @fromsmarttowise. Prasad is married to Dr. Vinoda and is father of Pravin (27) and Vidya (23). He enjoys exploring and reinterpreting ancient wisdom (and its application in developing highly effective and authentic leaders), photography (http://pkaipa.smugmug.com), listening to classical music, and playing tennis

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