Absorb LMS

What do you get when smart AI-powered learning meets a remote-friendly, no-jerks work culture? 

Absorb Software: a rapidly growing team that’s all about learning, connecting, and keeping things real while scaling globally. 

In this episode, Jena catches up with Cheryl Yuran, Absorb’s CHRO, to chat about how they build connection across time zones, support career growth in a fast-paced environment, and why their AI-driven LMS makes life easier for both employees and HR pros. 

Whether you’re curious about remote culture or clever learning tech, this one’s worth a listen.

What you’ll learn:

• How AI-powered learning enhances individualized development and eases administrative burdens
• The role of a “no jerks” policy in fostering a respectful and productive workplace
• Strategies for building strong connections in a distributed workforce, including unique social initiatives
• Creative career growth pathways designed to match diverse employee ambitions
• Insider hiring tips, including Absorb’s candidate portal that helps job seekers stand out

Absorb LMS Highlights:

Founded: 2003
Team Size: Nearly 600 employees across six countries
Work Model: Remote-first, with optional office spaces
Culture: Fast-growing, adaptable, and value-driven with a strong commitment to learning
Initiatives: Active social groups, mentoring via an AI-backed platform, and personalized career ladders
Hiring Focus: Growth concentrated in customer-facing roles like sales and account management

To learn more about Absorb LMS:

• Careers Page (They're hiring!)
• LinkedIn Page
• Cheryl's Profile

Transcript

Jena Dunay: Hello friends and welcome back to another episode of Culture Uncovered where we go behind the scenes of the coolest companies to work for. Today we are talking with Absorb Software CHRO Cheryl Yuran. Thank you so much for joining us today. We're excited to learn more about your organization, your culture, how you think about hiring, and just excited to have you share as well. Thanks for joining us.

Cheryl Yuran: Thank you, glad to be here. 

Jena Dunay: So why don't you give us a little bit of an understanding of what Absorb Software does? What do you guys do?

Cheryl Yuran: Yes, Absorb Software is a global leader in AI-powered learning technology. We help our client organizations unlock the potential of their workforce. We have over 3,300 customers and 34 million users. We go well beyond a traditional LMS. At the end of last year, we acquired a company called Together, a leading mentoring technology platform which strengthens our ability to provide best-in-class developmental opportunities to our clients.

Jena Dunay: Interesting! I love that. Tell me more about this mentoring platform you guys have acquired. What does that entail? I think mentorship is so important to an organization for professional development, engagement, and many reasons. Tell me more about this mentoring. I'm throwing you a curve ball here but I want to hear more. 

Cheryl Yuran: So important. Together is an amazing platform. The hardest part of getting a mentoring program off the ground is the heavy administrative lift. This platform does 90% of that for you. It goes through the matching process and uses AI to help mentors and mentees put together meaningful agendas and really manages the program. Besides mentoring, it also recently introduced Coffee Chats, which gives a roulette way for people to get to know others in their company who have opted into these conversations. The platform really helps companies get good mentoring programs off the ground.

Jena Dunay: Yeah, really cool. I love that. I would need to look into that more because I'm passionate about mentorship in general. It feels like an underutilized resource for organizations, mainly because, as you said, it's a huge administrative burden. Who’s going to take that on, right? How big is your organization from an employee count?

Cheryl Yuran: We are right around 600 employees and growing every day, and we're in six different countries.

Jena Dunay: Okay, what countries are you guys in? You, me, are you remote? Are you hybrid? What's it look like?

Cheryl Yuran: Yeah, so we are in Canada, US, we are in the UK, Ireland, Poland, and Australia. We are fully remote. So we do have some offices for people that choose to work in an office, but we are a remote first organization.

Jena Dunay: Yeah. Have you always been that way or was that like a post 2020? Hey, this is a really great idea. We should just do this. So what's it been like for you guys?

Cheryl Yuran: We did fully in-person prior to COVID and our employees really enjoyed working remotely and we saw really no difference in productivity, no reason to call people back to the office. So we reopened our offices but made them optional for those who choose to use them.

Jena Dunay: Very cool, very cool. How would you say, I mean, as a CHRO, I'm sure one of the things that you're thinking about is how do we create culture in a remote environment? It's one of the main questions I asked people, Chief People Officer, CHROs on this podcast, because I do think while I love being a mom, flexibility is so important to me, I think it's really valued by a lot of the workforce today. But at the same time, it can be really hard to build a cohesive culture.

Cheryl Yuran: Right.

Jena Dunay: Put productivity aside, but the connection piece. So how do you guys do that at Absorb?

Cheryl Yuran: Yeah, so I would say this is one of the things that people love most about working for Absorb is the culture we've been able to create. And I'm very proud that we've been able to maintain that in a remote environment. The sense of belonging that people feel is very center to our culture. We have this what we call a no jerks policy. And if you ask anyone at Absorb what they love most about working there, it's that the people are nice and I don't have to work with any jerks. 

Jena Dunay: Yeah, I actually worked with an organization that had this similar policy, except they use profanity. If you can kind of guess what they might've said. And we're no profanity podcast here. So you can kind of guess the idea, but very similar vibe. I love that.

Cheryl Yuran: Right. Yes, and there's a few things we do to really promote that sense of belonging. So our social committee is super active and they do fun, quirky things like remote scavenger hunts, trivia days, game days, things that just bring people together. We have contests using our own product, who can create the best training program about something you love to do in your personal life. Things that just bring that sense of personality.

We have local social groups, where we give every employee a budget if they choose to opt in to meet other Absorbers near them. They get together, do something fun like bowling, lunch, or coffee, just to create those connections. And then, as we talked before, using our Together platform has been a difference maker as well, with the coffee chat feature and mentoring, giving people the opportunity to see folks outside their immediate teams.

So the organization feels a little bigger than just the small team that they're on.

Jena Dunay: Yeah, that's really great. Tell me a little bit about the founding story. When were you founded? Why? It’s always interesting for people to hear the backstory. Sometimes organizations start one way and evolve differently. What’s it been like for Absorb?

Cheryl Yuran: Right. Absorb is 21 years old, founded in 2003. It’s the typical entrepreneurial story. It started in someone’s house with a vision and really grew exponentially fast. Especially as companies started to consider remote work, and then were forced to, the need for consistent employee communication was very high. That was a big driver of our growth. 

Jena Dunay: Like being ahead of the game on Learning & Development.

Cheryl Yuran: Exactly. Getting information out consistently to employees was really important and drove a lot of our expansion.

Jena Dunay: How did you come across the company? What made you decide to work here?

Cheryl Yuran: I found Absorb through a headhunter. I got to know the leadership team and really fell in love with the “no jerks” culture. The people are really nice here and I wanted to be part of that. As an HR professional, working for a company so dedicated to development, learning, and having a customer voice in the product, aligned closely with my own passion. I’ve never looked back.

Jena Dunay: That’s really cool. What was your background before? Did you come from HR tech? 

Cheryl Yuran: Right. I did not come from an HR tech background. I came from a previous technology company focused on manufacturing, so a very different environment. But I loved the product, so that connection was really strong for me. 

Jena Dunay: Yeah. Tell me, beyond the no jerks policy, what are some perks and benefits? What are some reasons people want to come work for Absorb beyond the remote aspect? What makes your organization unique from an employee standpoint?

Cheryl Yuran: I think the biggest thing is our strong commitment to learning. Employees crave that from their employers, and it’s definitely one of our strengths. We strive every day to get better at providing developmental opportunities so people can achieve their career goals here at Absorb. We also offer a good amount of flexibility and work with people on their individual career paths. Plus, we have the fun and quirky stuff we talked about with social groups and committees. 

Jena Dunay: I want to talk more about learning because professional goals vary widely. Some want to make more money, others want promotions, and some just want to learn a lot. When you say you’re committed to learning, what does that look like practically? What programs or initiatives do you have? Obviously the mentorship program you mentioned is part of it, but what else? 

Cheryl Yuran: We map out career growth within all the main functions in the company, looking at levels and possible springboard opportunities. We use our own LMS product’s skills feature that lets employees assess their current skills versus desired ones, take a skills gap analysis, then opt into learning or experiential opportunities. We support employees who want to grow in their role without necessarily moving on, giving them projects and experiences to develop.

Jena Dunay: That likely also looks different depending on where people are in life or location. For example, I’m a mom of two with little kids, so this might not be the season for me to be learning certain things. But others, maybe single or with older kids, might focus differently. It’s great you respect those individual paths. Given you’re in many countries and time zones, how do you build a cohesive culture?

Cheryl Yuran: It’s about consideration and intentionality. For example, our Australia team works opposite hours from most others, so we offer multiple training sessions so they get the live experience and direct CEO updates, not just recordings. Our CEO travels regularly to meet regional teams and has done social events like picking favorite activities for everyone to join. We also use a buddy system to connect remote or smaller groups to someone they can really relate to. 

Jena Dunay: I love what you said earlier about the social budget and local social groups. What are some fun things your local groups have done? I’m curious because it’s such a powerful way to unite a remote team that can otherwise feel segmented, especially if there are hubs of people in certain areas like Nashville. What practical examples can you share? 

Cheryl Yuran: Right. So we've had people do lunch together. That's easy because everyone has a Teams channel, so you can just pop it in there and ask, anyone want to meet for lunch next Friday? People opt in and lunches are very popular. We've done walks in parks, where people just want a walking buddy for an hour during the day. Coffees are big. We've had some people go bowling. I find our smaller regional teams are even more active than the bigger locations, maybe because the bigger locations take for granted that they can see people more often, while the smaller teams really appreciate a reason to come together.

Jena Dunay: Yeah, I'm personally a fan of walking meetings. My best ideas come from walking. My father-in-law used to walk with a buddy from work, and they connected that way. I think walking is an undervalued way to connect and solve problems. This is a plug for every company to encourage walk and talks, especially for remote employees. We’ve talked a lot about what makes your organization excellent, but no organization is perfect, right? We all have growing pains. Given your growth, I’m sure those have increased since the pandemic?

Cheryl Yuran: That is correct, yes.

Jena Dunay: What are some people-related areas you are looking to improve as you grow? We know you’re hiring, so what’s not going well and how are you improving?

Cheryl Yuran: We completed an engagement survey two months ago with great feedback and big wins. One area we’re still working on is team camaraderie. While we do a lot of great things, it can still be better. It’s my personal mission to be excellent at this so remote work never feels like a problem. Team camaraderie across dispersed, multi-region teams is something we want to improve. Also, aligning with career goals, development opportunities are strong but sometimes ambitious individuals want promotions faster than we can provide. We want to be more intentional about creating varied development paths that satisfy both business needs and employee desires. It’s more tweaking than overhauling but a priority.

Jena Dunay: That’s common, how to keep ambitious people engaged and retained while balancing business needs. It’s a big puzzle for CHROs because everyone’s goals and life stages differ. Appreciate your honesty about needing better connection and career development. Any unique solutions started yet? Early stages? 

Cheryl Yuran: Early stages. One thing we've done is level our jobs. If you start as an account manager, you can move to senior or strategic account manager without having to become a manager. So there are more growth options within roles. 

Jena Dunay: I’ve seen that too. Some want to stay individual contributors and excel there, others want to lead. Not everyone should be a people leader. That’s a topic for another day. Who fits your culture best? You mentioned kind people, but who thrives and who wouldn’t?

Cheryl Yuran: People who thrive are smart, scrappy, and good at execution. They don’t mind getting their hands dirty. We’re still growing fast, so roles change a lot in 12 months. If that excites you, you’re a fit. If you want super stability, we probably aren’t the place, because growth changes every role continually.

Jena Dunay: Yeah, remind me again, when did you join the firm?

Cheryl Yuran: I joined at the end of 2021.

Jena Dunay: Gosh, what a time to join as a CHRO. Not for the faint of heart, God bless you. Truly from a Southern perspective, that would be really hard. So people who succeed here are much more comfortable with ambiguity, and don’t need a super structured environment because things are actively changing.

Cheryl Yuran: I know, right?

Jena Dunay: I want you to plug Absorb in general, as an LMS provider, and the tools you offer. As a CHRO who has used other tools, why do you think your tool is one of the best on the market? Tell us from your perspective, especially for fellow chief people officers.

Cheryl Yuran: Absolutely. From a product perspective, it’s the AI enablement that makes our tool stand out. It’s very personalized for each learner, which lightens the HR workload because the tool manages individual learning plans for us. On the content side, AI tools help you create learning courses within minutes, instead of hours or days, acting as an assistant. The tool also helps departments keep aligned in their processes. Even though roles evolve with our growth, the LMS ensures learning paths stay organized so work feels orderly and people have the tools to succeed. Previous LMSs I used were more of a repository; Absorb really enables learning in the organization. I feel blessed to have this at my fingertips.

Jena Dunay: That’s a great point! Many organizations just shove content at learners, but your platform offers individualized paths for specific needs and goals, both for the person and the business. When you say training, do you mean courses, exercises? What does that look like inside your platform?

Cheryl Yuran: It can be either. We have a lot of content, but package it aligned to developmental goals. There’s plenty of canned content, but we enable a lot of customized training specific to company, role, and function. Leaders can have different learning paths to observe and certify employees on their functional skills. The tool also enables learning in the flow of work, so training can be accessed while working, not just separate time spent consuming content.

Jena Dunay: The "learning in the flow of work" is a hot topic. I’m a practitioner, not an academic, so this approach works well. You learn by doing, talk about something, then go do it. Consuming info without application is like just scrolling social media. 

Cheryl Yuran: Exactly. And with the addition of the Together platform, it supports the relational piece of learning. We learn so much from others, not just from content. We're proud to offer that as part of our platform.

Jena Dunay: That’s so true. I think back to early days when I had a mentor at Citibank. I learned more from talking with her than from any formal training. Similarly, I rarely learned much from college until I began applying knowledge at work. Having a tool at your side while you're actually working is a game changer. 

You mentioned growth. Tell me about what growth looks like from a hiring perspective. What departments are hiring, and what’s the outlook for the organization?

Cheryl Yuran: Most growth is in customer-facing areas: sales, sales development, business development, account management, and implementations, those servicing new customers. We also have some openings for developers and back-office roles, but those are fewer.

Jena Dunay: Customer-facing roles, I love that. If someone is interested in working at Absorb, it's remote, people-focused, where’s the best place to learn more? Careers page?

Cheryl Yuran: Definitely check out our careers page, but also Glassdoor. We’re proud of our high ratings. And LinkedIn is good for job listings as well.

Jena Dunay: Can I just say, I've never had a chief people officer say “go to our Glassdoor,” so that speaks volumes about your culture.

Now, the million-dollar question, how do candidates get their resumes seen? How do they break through the noise enough to get an interview?

Cheryl Yuran: It’s tough. Be genuine about your experience. Fill out the full application on the website, especially fields we use to filter candidates. At Absorb, we do something different: after applying, qualified candidates get access to a candidate portal through our LMS. There, they can learn about the company, hear our CEO on mission and values, and take courses on remote and behavioral interviews to prepare. We monitor engagement in the portal as a sign of interest and preparedness. It’s an innovative way to stand out.

Jena Dunay: That’s amazing! Unique hiring practices like that make a difference. We recommend candidates create a shortlist of companies they’re passionate about and really double down on getting seen there. The extra effort matters. Preparing candidates and showing how to succeed is excellent advice.

Cheryl Yuran: Right.

Jena Dunay: Final question. Where can people learn more about you?

Cheryl Yuran: Probably LinkedIn. I’m pretty active there. Feel free to connect.

Jena Dunay: Great! Cheryl, thank you for your time and sharing so much about Absorb, your culture, and your insights. Listeners will definitely gain from your advice on getting noticed at your company. I’m excited to explore your LMS myself. Thanks again.

Cheryl Yuran: Thank you.