Training expert Gayle Allen appointed vice president of people operations at Flexport

US freight forwarding disruptor Flexport has appointed Gayle Allen (pictured above) as vice president of people operations, to “further build out employee learning, growth and development programmes”.

Ms Allen will partner with Flexport’s management to “lift its culture of learning to new heights by creating a corporate university to encourage learning across the employee lifecycle”.

A statement added: “This global initiative will enhance existing programmes within the company, such as Flexport Academy, to bring industry newcomers up to speed in the complex world of freight logistics.”

Ms Allen will also create new leadership courses for its managers and skill-building classes for employees of all levels.

“Flexport’s mission is to fix global trade and our employees are fiercely passionate about how they contribute to our mission. Gayle’s passion and experience for workplace learning make her a natural fit as we continue to hire and grow the very best talent around the world,” said Sanne Manders, chief operating officer at Flexport.

“Top performers in any organisation consider themselves lifelong students and we’re pleased to offer our employees a way to accelerate their careers while making an impact on the outdated supply chain industry,” he added.

Ms Allen is also the founder of The Innovator’s Circle, an organisation that partners with company leaders to improve organisational performance. She has served as chief learning officer at BrightBytes, an educational technology start-up, and as an adjunct professor at Columbia and New York universities.

She is the author The New Pillars of Modern Teaching and hosts the Curious Minds podcast, and will be based at Flexport’s headquarters in San Francisco.

“Corporate learning can serve as a remarkable competitive advantage, and it was clear to me that Flexport is committed to learning and performance improvement,” Ms Allen said.

“My prior roles have taught me that the best teams work hard on how they collaborate, plan, and communicate, and that data holds the key to measuring significant outcomes.”