What a close look at 15 large Canadian organizations reveals about leadership development
Leaders with solid skills and exemplary qualities are in short supply, not only at senior management levels but across the board in Canadian organizations. Finding, keeping and developing leaders are more important than ever.
To refine and strengthen its approach to leadership skill development, McMaster University in Hamilton has asked 14 large organizations to share their leadership and experiences in a benchmarking study. The 14 organizations, listed below in the sidebar, come from a wide range of sectors and industries. They demonstrate a serious commitment to building management and leadership as a strategic priority.
A close look at their leadership development practices sheds light on the ways large, progressive organizations, in both private and public sectors, are taking action to develop leaders.
Seven leadership guideposts
Their experiences and approaches point to seven guideposts, discussed below, that can help other organizations on the leadership development journey.
•Driving forces: Why is leadership development a priority for the organization? Being clear about driving forces positions leadership development as a business priority and a strategic enabler that contributes to business results. It establishes the importance of developing leaders among the many competing priorities facing the organization. It secures vital top-level sponsorship, active attention and involvement.
Senior leaders and HR professionals at McMaster recognize the importance of leadership skills and behaviours in sustaining positive employee relations and delivering quality education to students.
For McMaster, demographics, a tightening labour market, changing workforce motivations and increased emphasis on teamwork, networking and collaboration are additional driving forces.
For other organizations in the study, the driving forces are varied. They include rapid growth, the need to unify the culture following acquisitions, an employer of choice branding strategy, and an emphasis on developing leaders from within rather than recruiting from outside.
•The foundation: What anchors the organization’s approach to leadership development?
Closely related to driving forces, leadership development should be grounded in organizational strategy, values, desired capabilities and culture.
At Sun Life Financial, leadership development is tied to the company’s business strategy implementation. Sun Life has specific leadership development approaches. They include an enterprise-wide leadership review and a succession management process that are tied to specific leadership development programs and activities within each of its five business groups. The focus is on growing leaders from within to ensure a supply of skilled talent.
“The Dofasco Way,” the culture cultivated by the steelmaker since its founding, led the company to build its leadership brand on four interrelated foundations: company strategy, values, competencies and the stakeholder framework (shareholders, employees, suppliers, customers and community) within which the company defines its business objectives and measures of success.
At Suncor, a fundamental starting point is the company’s basic values and beliefs related to health and safety, high performance, involvement, responsibility and ethical leadership.
Suncor has adopted a road map for development of leaders with three focal points: demonstrating business acumen (business value and results), influencing people (engagement and performance), and managing work (management of people and integrated processes).
•Integrated approach: The link between HR management and organizational development processes can support and shape leadership capability and performance.
The participating organizations recognize this, as all have expressed a desire to move to a more integrated approach.
The key components and processes of an integrated approach include succession planning and talent management, expanding the talent pool, performance management, rewards strategy, development planning, career pathing, coaching and mentoring within an overall organizational development, culture change and change management strategy.
University Health Network is implementing a comprehensive organizational change road map based on a “patient-centred care” model that ties together the objectives, measures and processes needed to transform the culture and enhance performance. Leadership development is a key component of the transformation.
A trend is to involve line managers in talent identification and development and hold them accountable for progress. Wrigley and Inco conduct thorough talent review processes, while some companies use individualized learning contracts to maximize the relevance of training and development.
•Three types of paths: Recognize and optimize the opportunities for leadership development — education, experience and relationship building.
In constructing a more integrated approach, organizations increasingly see the need to pursue multiple paths to leadership development. The Corporate Leadership Council, a Washington, D.C.-based group made up of senior executives that provides best practices and research for HR executives, calls these:
•experience-based opportunities;
•feedback and relationship opportunities; and
•education-based opportunities.
A number of large companies explicitly follow these three paths, among which impact is generally ranked from experience-based (greatest impact) to education-based (least impact).
Suncor, Dofasco, Inco and Wrigley place a lot of emphasis on experience-based leadership development through job assignments, project teamwork, career moves and, where applicable, international exposure.
•Target and select: Effective leadership development programs differentiate among levels and groups to target and select people for appropriate, instrumental leadership development programs.
Programs can be tailored to particular needs, a process that can foster relationships and collaborative learning among those in similar roles.
Inco’s “trailblazers” program highlights intensive mid-career, high-potential development. Dofasco’s extended learning experience, called “coaching for high performance,” recognizes three or four leadership levels or groups for which leadership development education, coaching, project work and on-the-job experience can be customized.
Rogers Communications organizes its audience into three primary groups: advanced leadership (for executive level), leadership foundation (for managers), and professional development (for all employees). London Health Sciences Centre maps three phases of programming to accommodate three phases of experience building: emerging manager, leadership development for management and seasoned managers.
•Competencies, knowledge and skill areas: Determine the areas needed to support the organization’s objectives and build them into leadership development programs.
Building closely on the foundation, it’s essential to identify the organizational, team and individual competencies that will serve as focus areas for learning and application. The competencies must be broad enough to express high-level leadership requirements and apply to everyone, but specific enough to serve as a learning guide and road map for individuals.
Some organizations find they can adapt generic competency models from leadership books, consulting firms or leadership institutes to meet their needs. Others develop custom competency sets based on corporate values, culture and objectives.
The Wrigley leadership model highlights several expectations of leaders: lead, influence, facilitate, empower, build teams and share information.
University Health Network derives its competencies directly from its strategic directions, vision, purpose and values that drive overall performance transformation as an organization.
•Delivery, action learning and application: Design effective delivery, action learning and application of knowledge, competencies and skills addressed in educational and coaching processes.
A number of participating organizations are currently reviewing and redesigning their leadership development programs. They’re attempting to increase the degree to which education equips leaders with practical skills, to enable change and performance results.
Dofasco creates an extended learning journey with its coaching for high performance program, weaving educational content with structured learning team experiences and assignments. Inco builds its trailblazers program on an action learning concept beginning with experience, then reflection, leading to principles and behavioral change.
The seven guideposts are interrelated and integrated. They don’t define the destination. Indeed, leadership development is a journey, one that never ends. It requires sustained attention, resources and practices drawn from research, past experience, ideas from other organizations and — most important — the unique stamp or flavour that each organization imprints on its own leadership models and realities.
The study
The 15 organizations that took part
The organizations that took part in the McMaster University study range across sectors and industries:
•Carswell, a Toronto-based legal, tax and HR publisher with 650 employees.
•Dofasco Inc., a Hamilton-based steelmaker with 7,000 employees.
•Inco Limited, a Toronto-based nickel producer with 10,000 employees.
•London Health Sciences Network, a London, Ont.-based hospital network with 8,000 employees.
•McMaster University, a Hamilton-based post-secondary institution with 6,000 employees.
•MDS Inc., a Toronto-based health sciences company with 9,000 employees.
•Ontario Power Generation, a Toronto-based electricity producer with 11,000 employees.
•Rogers Communications, a Toronto-based communications firm with 22,000 employees.
•Suncor Energy, a Calgary-based energy company with 5,000 employees.
•Sun Life Financial, a Toronto based financial company with 12,000 employees.
•University of British Columbia, a Vancouver-based post-secondary institution with 16,000 employees.
•University Health Network, a Toronto-based hospital group with 11,000 employees.
•University of Toronto, a Toronto-based post-secondary institution with 10,000 employees.
•Wrigley Canada, a Toronto-based chewing gum manufacturer with 900 employees.
•York University, a Toronto-based post-secondary institution with 7,000 employees.
Ray Brillinger helps organizations with change management, HR strategy and performance improvement. He can be reached at [email protected] or (416) 766-9580.
To refine and strengthen its approach to leadership skill development, McMaster University in Hamilton has asked 14 large organizations to share their leadership and experiences in a benchmarking study. The 14 organizations, listed below in the sidebar, come from a wide range of sectors and industries. They demonstrate a serious commitment to building management and leadership as a strategic priority.
A close look at their leadership development practices sheds light on the ways large, progressive organizations, in both private and public sectors, are taking action to develop leaders.
Seven leadership guideposts
Their experiences and approaches point to seven guideposts, discussed below, that can help other organizations on the leadership development journey.
•Driving forces: Why is leadership development a priority for the organization? Being clear about driving forces positions leadership development as a business priority and a strategic enabler that contributes to business results. It establishes the importance of developing leaders among the many competing priorities facing the organization. It secures vital top-level sponsorship, active attention and involvement.
Senior leaders and HR professionals at McMaster recognize the importance of leadership skills and behaviours in sustaining positive employee relations and delivering quality education to students.
For McMaster, demographics, a tightening labour market, changing workforce motivations and increased emphasis on teamwork, networking and collaboration are additional driving forces.
For other organizations in the study, the driving forces are varied. They include rapid growth, the need to unify the culture following acquisitions, an employer of choice branding strategy, and an emphasis on developing leaders from within rather than recruiting from outside.
•The foundation: What anchors the organization’s approach to leadership development?
Closely related to driving forces, leadership development should be grounded in organizational strategy, values, desired capabilities and culture.
At Sun Life Financial, leadership development is tied to the company’s business strategy implementation. Sun Life has specific leadership development approaches. They include an enterprise-wide leadership review and a succession management process that are tied to specific leadership development programs and activities within each of its five business groups. The focus is on growing leaders from within to ensure a supply of skilled talent.
“The Dofasco Way,” the culture cultivated by the steelmaker since its founding, led the company to build its leadership brand on four interrelated foundations: company strategy, values, competencies and the stakeholder framework (shareholders, employees, suppliers, customers and community) within which the company defines its business objectives and measures of success.
At Suncor, a fundamental starting point is the company’s basic values and beliefs related to health and safety, high performance, involvement, responsibility and ethical leadership.
Suncor has adopted a road map for development of leaders with three focal points: demonstrating business acumen (business value and results), influencing people (engagement and performance), and managing work (management of people and integrated processes).
•Integrated approach: The link between HR management and organizational development processes can support and shape leadership capability and performance.
The participating organizations recognize this, as all have expressed a desire to move to a more integrated approach.
The key components and processes of an integrated approach include succession planning and talent management, expanding the talent pool, performance management, rewards strategy, development planning, career pathing, coaching and mentoring within an overall organizational development, culture change and change management strategy.
University Health Network is implementing a comprehensive organizational change road map based on a “patient-centred care” model that ties together the objectives, measures and processes needed to transform the culture and enhance performance. Leadership development is a key component of the transformation.
A trend is to involve line managers in talent identification and development and hold them accountable for progress. Wrigley and Inco conduct thorough talent review processes, while some companies use individualized learning contracts to maximize the relevance of training and development.
•Three types of paths: Recognize and optimize the opportunities for leadership development — education, experience and relationship building.
In constructing a more integrated approach, organizations increasingly see the need to pursue multiple paths to leadership development. The Corporate Leadership Council, a Washington, D.C.-based group made up of senior executives that provides best practices and research for HR executives, calls these:
•experience-based opportunities;
•feedback and relationship opportunities; and
•education-based opportunities.
A number of large companies explicitly follow these three paths, among which impact is generally ranked from experience-based (greatest impact) to education-based (least impact).
Suncor, Dofasco, Inco and Wrigley place a lot of emphasis on experience-based leadership development through job assignments, project teamwork, career moves and, where applicable, international exposure.
•Target and select: Effective leadership development programs differentiate among levels and groups to target and select people for appropriate, instrumental leadership development programs.
Programs can be tailored to particular needs, a process that can foster relationships and collaborative learning among those in similar roles.
Inco’s “trailblazers” program highlights intensive mid-career, high-potential development. Dofasco’s extended learning experience, called “coaching for high performance,” recognizes three or four leadership levels or groups for which leadership development education, coaching, project work and on-the-job experience can be customized.
Rogers Communications organizes its audience into three primary groups: advanced leadership (for executive level), leadership foundation (for managers), and professional development (for all employees). London Health Sciences Centre maps three phases of programming to accommodate three phases of experience building: emerging manager, leadership development for management and seasoned managers.
•Competencies, knowledge and skill areas: Determine the areas needed to support the organization’s objectives and build them into leadership development programs.
Building closely on the foundation, it’s essential to identify the organizational, team and individual competencies that will serve as focus areas for learning and application. The competencies must be broad enough to express high-level leadership requirements and apply to everyone, but specific enough to serve as a learning guide and road map for individuals.
Some organizations find they can adapt generic competency models from leadership books, consulting firms or leadership institutes to meet their needs. Others develop custom competency sets based on corporate values, culture and objectives.
The Wrigley leadership model highlights several expectations of leaders: lead, influence, facilitate, empower, build teams and share information.
University Health Network derives its competencies directly from its strategic directions, vision, purpose and values that drive overall performance transformation as an organization.
•Delivery, action learning and application: Design effective delivery, action learning and application of knowledge, competencies and skills addressed in educational and coaching processes.
A number of participating organizations are currently reviewing and redesigning their leadership development programs. They’re attempting to increase the degree to which education equips leaders with practical skills, to enable change and performance results.
Dofasco creates an extended learning journey with its coaching for high performance program, weaving educational content with structured learning team experiences and assignments. Inco builds its trailblazers program on an action learning concept beginning with experience, then reflection, leading to principles and behavioral change.
The seven guideposts are interrelated and integrated. They don’t define the destination. Indeed, leadership development is a journey, one that never ends. It requires sustained attention, resources and practices drawn from research, past experience, ideas from other organizations and — most important — the unique stamp or flavour that each organization imprints on its own leadership models and realities.
The study
The 15 organizations that took part
The organizations that took part in the McMaster University study range across sectors and industries:
•Carswell, a Toronto-based legal, tax and HR publisher with 650 employees.
•Dofasco Inc., a Hamilton-based steelmaker with 7,000 employees.
•Inco Limited, a Toronto-based nickel producer with 10,000 employees.
•London Health Sciences Network, a London, Ont.-based hospital network with 8,000 employees.
•McMaster University, a Hamilton-based post-secondary institution with 6,000 employees.
•MDS Inc., a Toronto-based health sciences company with 9,000 employees.
•Ontario Power Generation, a Toronto-based electricity producer with 11,000 employees.
•Rogers Communications, a Toronto-based communications firm with 22,000 employees.
•Suncor Energy, a Calgary-based energy company with 5,000 employees.
•Sun Life Financial, a Toronto based financial company with 12,000 employees.
•University of British Columbia, a Vancouver-based post-secondary institution with 16,000 employees.
•University Health Network, a Toronto-based hospital group with 11,000 employees.
•University of Toronto, a Toronto-based post-secondary institution with 10,000 employees.
•Wrigley Canada, a Toronto-based chewing gum manufacturer with 900 employees.
•York University, a Toronto-based post-secondary institution with 7,000 employees.
Ray Brillinger helps organizations with change management, HR strategy and performance improvement. He can be reached at [email protected] or (416) 766-9580.
