Rose Powell - Vitaco | Future Skills, AI & Building Capability on the Factory Floor

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Rose Powell - Vitaco | Future Skills, AI & Building Capability on the Factory Floor

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What happens to the future of work if half your workforce gets left behind? In this episode of HR Unlocked, Lisa Oakley sits down with Rose Powell, General Manager People & Capability at Vitaco Health Group, to explore what future-focused People & Culture looks like inside a complex, vertically integrated organisation. Rose's leadership philosophy was shaped early in her career when she moved from a command-and-control manufacturing environment into the very different world of higher education. It was there that she began recognising empathy, care, and connection not as leadership weaknesses, but as strengths. That experience helped shape the servant leadership approach she continues to practise today. At Vitaco, Rose leads People & Capability across a workforce spanning manufacturing, distribution, science, quality, sales, marketing, and corporate functions. She explains how Vitaco's Mini Business Unit model, Pillar Fundamentals, and skills matrix give manufacturing employees a structured pathway to build capability, learn end-to-end processes, progress their careers, and increase their earning potential. The conversation also tackles a bigger question facing manufacturing: what skills should organisations be developing when technology is changing the work itself? Rose shares her involvement in industry and vocational education, why future manufacturing workers will need a different capability mix, and why organisations also have an obligation to help their existing people become more adaptable. She discusses the value of reverse mentoring, including what Vitaco has learnt from younger interns bringing new AI knowledge and ways of working into the organisation. For Rose, capability is more than knowing how to perform today's job. It means understanding how that job may need to be done differently and having the will to make that change happen. That becomes particularly important with AI. Rose warns of the risk of creating a divide between employees who sit behind desks and those who don't. With many frontline employees traditionally lacking company emails, laptops, and access to the same digital tools as corporate teams, she argues that organisations need to be intentional about democratising access to technology, information, and learning. Rose and Lisa also explore how strong cultures survive rapid growth, what constructive employer-union relationships look like, and why trust is built well before anyone reaches the bargaining table. For Rose, regular conversations with delegates and genuine relationships mean disagreement does not have to destroy trust. What You'll Learn How Rose's early career experiences shaped her servant leadership style Why empathy, care, and connection can be leadership strengths What People & Culture looks like across a complex, vertically integrated workforce How Vitaco develops manufacturing capability through its Mini Business Unit model How skills matrices can connect learning, career progression, and remuneration Why capability development needs both technical and human skills How employers and unions can collaborate on workforce development Why traditional qualifications may not always keep pace with changing jobs What future manufacturing employees will need to succeed Why existing employees need support to remain adaptable as technology changes How reverse mentoring can bring new skills into an organisation What younger workers can teach established leaders about AI Why capability is about more than knowing how to perform today's job How purpose can support innovation and organisational growth Why AI risks widening the gap between desk-based and frontline employees How Vitaco is increasing frontline access to digital information and learning Why organisations need to democratise access to technology How culture can remain strong as organisations scale Why consistency of purpose and messaging matters during rapid growth What constructive employer-union relationships look like in practice Why relationships with union delegates matter outside collective bargaining How trust allows employers and unions to disagree constructively Why People & Culture professionals need genuine commercial understanding Why frontline leaders need more than technical expertise How organisations can identify and develop leadership potential earlier Why workforce planning increasingly needs to focus on capability rather than fixed job titles Key Takeaways Empathy, caring, and connection aren't weaknesses in leadership. For Rose, recognising those qualities as strengths fundamentally changed the way she leads. Developing frontline capability works best when employees can clearly see how learning connects to their role, career progression, and earning potential. Future manufacturing capability will look different as automation, data, new systems, and AI change the nature of work. Organisations have a responsibility to develop the people they already employ, not simply ...

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