GE Named #1 Best Company for Leadership 2011 and maintains its top-notch reputation for Leadership excellence.
For the fourth time in the last five years, GE has been named number one in a list of best Companies for Leadership, according to a survey conducted by the Hay Group, a global management consulting firm. Named among the 20 Best Companies for Leadership in BusinessWeek.com/ Hay Group survey, GE has put a premium on selecting, developing, and retaining strong leaders at every level.
To conduct the Best Companies for Leadership study, Hay Group and Bloomberg BusinessWeek.com invited organizations from around the globe to participate. The survey was open to all employees of any organization and asked respondents to rate the leadership-development practices at their own organizations. A total of 1,869 individuals from 1,109 organizations completed the survey.
What sets GE on the top of the list is not just emphasized on good leadership, but also the way GE approaches good leadership. GE's ability to create a culture of leadership even during crises, chaos and an economic downturn, sets it apart. GE carefully tailors its developing leaders to fit their unique business strategies and organizational culture.
In Bad Times and In Good
GE, who was not spared from the recession, topped the list in terms of its ability to address leadership development on multiple fronts, from articulating how leadership behavior needs to change to meet the challenges of the future to managing their pools of successors for mission-critical roles. Despite the turbulent, crisis-strewn atmosphere of the past year, GE has continued to make leadership a top priority.
Developing Leaders Worldwide
Every year, GE spends over $1 Billion in structured training for its talents worldwide. GE continues to invest in leadership and development training, extending employee benefits beyond traditional frameworks and building internal capacity for sustainable success. GE is so widely recognized and respected for its leadership talent and measuring and developing talent is always at the forefront of GE business strategy discussions.
GE's operating system, referred to as its 'learning culture in action', entails year-round learning sessions where leaders from GE and outside companies share intellectual capital and focus on generating the best ideas and practices. Conversations about developing talent and reaching business objectives are side-by-side so there is a continuous link.
"Today leaders are faced with so many challenges so often that any one set approach doesn't work 100% of the time. That's why we're focused on renewing our culture's focus on leadership development to reflect new realities. We're engaging our own leaders and a variety of outside thinkers to determine what it will take to lead in the 21st century." --- Susan Peters, Vice-President, Executive Development, and Chief Learning Officer, GE
The centerpiece of GE's commitment to excellence in leadership development is the John F. Welch Leadership Center at Crotonville, recognized as the world's first major corporate business school. Today, Crotonville plays a major role as an agent of cultural change at GE with a mission to create, identify and transfer organizational learning to enhance GE growth and competitiveness worldwide. For GE employees, ranging from entry-level to highest-performing executives, a journey to Crontonville is a transformative learning experience that, for many, it can become a defining career event.
Going Beyond Business Goals
In GE, effective leadership is about going beyond achieving business goals. It entails the ability to focus on the future, and the efforts to model personal excellence, integrity, and accountability. It fosters collaboration, inclusiveness, and building trust and relationships; these being the main ingredients to becoming a global leader.
GE's strength is also in advocating good corporate citizenship. The company has grouped numerous corporate initiatives and development partnerships within two broad, socially responsible themes: environmental responsibility (ecomagination) and access to health care (healthymagination).
For more than a century, volunteerism has been a vibrant part of GE's culture, as both an individual employee activity as well as an organizational effort. Resources are coordinated --- including products, matching gifts, grants and people --- to create responses tailored to local and individual challenges. Today, the ultimate measure of GE's business is found in the improvements to the lives touched by their work.
While GE has been known for its success in leadership, executing these strategies is definitely not possible without good people.
"The people are the most important asset to us at GE. We train and prepare them to manage the business not only on a local or regional level, but on a global scale. We continue to build a winning team capable of creating a unique global GE culture, operating performance with integrity, and passion to take care of the customers' concerns and well-being. GE is a global leader in the business not only because of its innovative product and technology solutions, but also because of its good and highly talented people." -- Stuart Dean, Chief Executive Officer, GE ASEAN.
#####
About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) is an advanced technology, services and finance company taking on the world's toughest challenges. Dedicated to innovation in energy, health, transportation and infrastructure, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs about 300,000 people worldwide.
For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ge.com.
Corporate Communications
[email protected]
business unit
tags