Eighth Annual Hay Group Study Identifies Best Companies for Leadership

It’s no surprise that the same
companies appear on these lists year over year. That’s because, unlike many of
the high tech sexy companies that dominate the business headlines, companies
that develop great leaders just quietly go about it and deliver great results
year over year. Yes, Google and Zappos may be cool places to work, and Apple develops
great products, but when it comes to leadership development, they may be still
relatively immature. Although, I was surprised to see that Facebook made the
Hay list this year. Could Mark Zuckerberg be the next Jack Welch when it comes
to talent development? I’ll need to talk to Hay and find what they’ve been up
to.

The 8^th annual Hay Group
study ranks the best companies for leadership around the globe and examines how
those companies nurture talent and foster innovation in their ranks. This year,
Procter & Gamble topped the list, followed by Microsoft, General Electric
and Coca-Cola.

According to Hay Group’s study, the
Best Companies for Leadership are purposeful and strategic in developing,
enabling and motivating leaders throughout the organization to do their best.
In fact, 73 percent of the Top 20 companies reported giving everyone at every
level of the organization the opportunity to develop and practice the
capabilities needed to lead others, compared to only 47 percent of all other
companies. These future-focused companies also look ahead to what roles are ­–
and will be – mission-critical to their success, and then intentionally
identify and develop leaders with the right skills to fill those roles. To
facilitate this process, the Top 20 companies reported doing more to develop
their population of new and mid-level managers, with higher usage rates of
web-based leadership modules (72 percent vs. 39 percent at all other
companies), classroom-based leadership training (80 percent vs. 55 percent) and
mentoring by a senior manager or executive (68 percent vs. 39 percent).

“The Best Companies for Leadership
recognize that many of the skills once required solely for senior leadership
roles — high levels of emotional intelligence, commitment to continuous
learning, analytical thinking — are now critical at every level of the
organization,” said Ruth Malloy, global managing director of Hay Group’s Leadership
and Talent practice and co-leader of the Best Companies for
Leadership Study. “To excel in today’s highly complex and competitive business
environment, the Best Companies are taking deliberate steps to develop and
reward these competencies to enable their organizations to achieve operational
excellence today, while driving innovation for tomorrow.”

At the same time, the Best Companies
for Leadership foster cultures that encourage innovation. Seventy-six percent
of the Top 20 companies reward and stimulate cross-business-unit collaboration
to develop new business lines, compared to only 54 percent of all other
companies. The Top 20 companies are also more likely to encourage employees to
learn in areas outside of their areas of expertise (70 percent vs. 48 percent)
and to recognize and reward employees for really new and different business
ideas (77 percent vs. 58 percent).

In fact, 78 percent of the Top 20
companies reported that their organization encourages employees to spend much
time discussing customers’ future needs, compared to only 55 percent of all
other companies.

“In times of rapid change, many
companies lose their focus, failing to adequately engage and enable their
current workforces as the organizations shift to achieve short-term or
immediate objectives,” added Lash. “Those companies that simultaneously execute
on immediate priorities while aligning their employees with a shared sense of
purpose, and develop leaders at all levels to contribute and act on innovative
ideas, have a better chance at financial success.”