Dennis Armstrong is serving as a Talent Practice Director in Residence, bringing more than 30 years of HR and business leadership experience to the UWEBC community. With a Master’s degree and a PhD in industrial and organizational psychology, Dennis has held leadership roles at United Airlines, Limited Brands, Victoria’s Secret, Vitamix, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, and most recently Blain’s Farm & Fleet, where he retired as Chief Human Resources Officer at the end of 2025. Throughout his career, Dennis has worked with CEOs and executive leadership teams to align HR strategy with business strategy. His experience spans succession planning, performance management, compensation, learning and development, employee engagement, and organizational design. One principle has guided much of his work: talent practices should be practical, focused, and easy for business leaders to use.
What makes the UWEBC community different from other groups you’ve worked with?
Dennis was first introduced to UWEBC through Director Doug Barton
and became even more interested after attending the Annual Conference. What stood out to him was the strong engagement among member companies and the willingness of members to learn directly from one another. He also sees something distinctly Midwestern in the community. Members are open about what is happening inside their organizations and willing to share both successes and challenges. That became especially clear during a recent Executive Roundtable Dennis facilitated, where participants openly shared examples from their organizations and engaged in candid discussion.
“There’s a genuine and authentic culture for the UWEBC members, where they are all interested in what other people are doing and willing to share what they’re doing.”
What is changing most rapidly in the field of talent?
For Dennis, one of the biggest changes affecting talent leaders is artificial intelligence. Organizations may understand that they want to use AI, but the larger challenge is determining how to introduce it effectively, help employees use it productively, and reduce anxiety about what it could mean for their roles. Dennis sees AI adoption as closely tied to change management. Successful implementation requires strong communication, thoughtful pilots, and transparency about how AI will be used across the organization. He also sees this as an opportunity for HR to become even more integrated with the business, helping leaders navigate both the people and performance sides of change.
What should talent leaders be preparing for right now?
Even as technology becomes more sophisticated, Dennis believes organizations will continue to succeed based largely on the quality of their people. Companies still need employees who can exercise judgment, make decisions, solve problems, and create new ideas. That means leaders must continue focusing on attracting, developing, retaining, and rewarding strong talent while creating a culture where people want to contribute their best work. Part of that is recognizing that success looks different for different employees. Not everyone wants the next promotion, and Dennis encourages leaders to understand what employees want and help them find roles where they can thrive. That kind of support helps build trust across an organization.
Looking ahead, what can UWEBC members expect from you this year?
Dennis is looking forward to becoming more deeply involved with UWEBC member companies and hearing directly from them about the talent challenges they are facing. One area he is especially interested in exploring is the shift toward skills-based organizations, a topic many companies are beginning to evaluate and one that has been a longtime area of interest for him. More broadly, he wants his work with UWEBC to remain responsive to members and allow himself to be shaped by what they most want to learn.
“I’m really looking forward to hearing what the membership is interested in learning more about and what I can either learn or what I can contribute to their learning.”
What kinds of questions or challenges are you most excited to explore with our members?
Succession planning, employee development, and performance management are all areas Dennis is eager to explore with members. Throughout his career, he has seen how structured talent reviews and open feedback can help leaders better understand the strengths and development needs across their organizations. He is also passionate about executive development and creating conversations where leaders can openly discuss what colleagues do well and what they could do even better. In his experience, framing feedback around future improvement can reduce defensiveness and create room for meaningful growth.
We look forward to continuing to learn from Dennis as he brings decades of experience and a practical, business-focused approach to talent strategy to the UWEBC community.