ASSOCIATE SPOTLIGHT SERIES: AN INTERVIEW WITH CHARLES GIBSON
January 20, 2023
In our Associate Spotlight series, we are highlighting associates across the company who are shaping our community and who embody our Centric Brands philosophy every day.
Meet Charles Gibson, Manager, Business Analysis, Supply Chain Operations at Centric Brands. At Centric Brands, learning plays an essential role in how we further develop our skills to grow with the Company. In his interview, Charles emphasizes why our People Leaders should be avid users of LinkedIn Learning, a critical tool that will further empower and enable success.
As an early Linked In Learning user, what inspired or prompted you to leverage the platform?
I enjoy learning, and I use other platforms in my personal life, like Udemy or Coursera. As a new manager at Centric Brands, our training is very good. I wanted to learn more about some of the technical aspects that would help my team advance and grow within their current professions and throughout their careers. I reached out to our Human Resources team to identify development resources and gave them a list of the competencies I felt would benefit my team and the organization’s needs. Within weeks I was enrolled as a superuser in the Linked In Learning portal, which happened before we launched Linked In Learning to the Company in early November.
How are you using the Linkedln Learning platform collaboratively with your team?
We are new in our use and still have a lot to learn. One of the great things about Linked In Learning is the considerable curriculum library, which allows you to tailor the focus toward each learner. Although we have a core learning path, my team and I work together to decide what additional courses might be helpful to them individually and the team as a whole. We also shared our insights on which instructors taught a subject best. Here are just some of the courses that have benefited my team:
• Data Visualization for Data Analysis and Analytics – Instructor: Bill Shander
• Excel Business Intelligence: Data Modeling 101 – Instructor: Chris Dutton
• Excel Business Intelligence: Power Query – Instructor: Chris Dutton
• Excel Business Intelligence: Power Pivot and DAX – Instructor: Chris Dutton
What are your individual and team learning goals?
Personally, it is important for me to maintain my proficiency in a field that is constantly changing, taking on more challenging courses and using this medium to stay on top of trends in my field. As for our team, our goals are not much different; we use this tool as a resource to ensure we can provide analysis of ever-increasing effectiveness.
What has your experience been with Linkedln Learning?
Courses are designed to meet your specific needs, with difficulty levels ranging from beginner to advanced. You can jump in where you think you need to. The curriculum library is enormous, offering multiple courses of varying degrees of difficulty, with a myriad of instructors. With most courses no longer than a few hours in length, you can become a subject matter expert in a short time. I like the actual course structure most. Like many other on line learning platforms, linked In Learning breaks each course into smaller segments lasting three to seven minutes, making pausing, resuming and even going back to previous lessons much easier than navigating an entire video lecture.
Do you have any advice or tips for new users?
Make the time. Thirty minutes a week may not seem like much of an investment, but it can really help you professionally in the long run. It all adds up, and next thing you know, a few minutes turns into a few courses and turns into a subject matter expert!
What is a fun fact about you or a hobby you like doing outside of work?
When I am not data mining, I like to brew beer. I maintain a small craft home brewery, and while I enjoy a variety of styles, I like India Pale Lager’s the most.
