Advice on starting a leadership development program

Fabio Malagisi

Why a program?

• Jobs open for long periods of time• Trouble finding the right fit/profile of candidate• High turnover/training costs• Unique requirements and cultural fit • Challenges with rural locations• Increasing competition from other company

programs/hiring• Align with today’s market / “Gen Y” (see next slide)

Purpose • Want to make a difference. Change the world. Be inspired. • Community service is highly valued. • Ideas inspire them. New world is driven by ideas. Natural entrepreneurs. Idea economy vs product economy. Career Path • Seem dis-loyal but more loyal than you think. • Will job hop if they don’t see a path, but if they do, they will stay. They care about alignment of goals and values. Culture matters! • Small rewards and recognition go a long way. Realistic that they can’t have everything but want to know they are making progress. Balance • An absolute central priority.• Expect more from employers. Family type atmosphere. • Friendships and family matter more and more. Often live with parents. • Emerging competition in the market – companies allowing for more stability. • Health initiatives, stress management. Get them involved. Flexibility• Don’t mind working long hours but want flexibility on which hours they are. Weekend, evenings, early mornings. Face time is secondary to them. • In may ways, contradicts traditional policies and norms. • Technology focus. Grew up in technology…feel they can be effective anywhere, anytime. Provide them the tools to do so. • Allow flexibility to show them you are aligned with there work/life balance goals. • Micro management will kill productivity. They prefer an iterative learning culture. • Very informed through the digital age. Short bursts of information (blogs, twitter, youtube, texting) vs books, training manuals. Video’s are more effective. • Hierarchy, chain of command, over focus on rules and slow beauracracy is a turn off. Allow creativity to flourish. • Lead/Coach vs manage.Resume differences• More often have gaps in resume for time off to travel the world. • Volunteer activities. Often looked at as a resume page filler but more and more offers more insight into the person and holds more importance. • Entrepreneur experience. Used to be viewed as “not a corporate type” but these lines are more blurred. This is just a characteristic now, vs a career path. • Job Hopping – may not mean they are dis-loyal….but rather searching for the right fit.• Cross functional roles – these will become more common. • What do you want to be when you grow up – will increasingly see less definition…more broad strokes.

These companies are using leadership programs to recruit the best

Top arguments and tips on how to respond

Programs are expensive..We don’t have the funding• Don’t spend foolishly. There are options.

– Develop curriculum internally.– leverage existing industry standards (CMA, CPA, MBA, Lean/Six Sigma)– Outside consultant/services specializing in this.

• Leverage internal assets. You’ll be surprised at what your existing leaders have to offer

• Don’t forget tangible (recruiting fees) and intangible savings (cost of open roles)

• Think payback. Make project savings a program requirement. “Swat team” to solve real business problems…pitch out to leadership

• Be creative and manage spend• Its an investment

We don’t have enough jobs to accommodate these people in 2 years

• Start slow, learn and grow• Use historical turnover statistics to rationalize• Use “hybrids” to fill out program in slow times. Existing employees that don’t

rotate but take the training• Be flexible on rotations. Use rotations to fill open roles..even temporarily • Aim to have the final rotation to be the off program role. This extends your

“window” to a full year to find a home for graduates• Don’t be afraid to hold a role for a couple months until someone “graduates”• Don’t be overly strict on structure…Manage proactively• May need to create “Bubble” assignments…

make sure they pay for themselves.

We can’t compete with the bigger programs

• Play offense• Your advantage is to offer a customized program to serve

individual needs. The big programs don’t offer this attention • Develop your niche. What will you be known for• Brand yourself. What will you be known for? Start by

dominating your market vs all markets • Develop deep partnerships with key universities• Treat your members like gold and the reputation effect will

pay off over and over again in the future• Develop an intern pipeline

• You can if you want….make the program whatever works for you…experienced level, MBA graduates, program of poached people, entry level..mix it up

• There are huge advantages to teaching people specifically what you want them to learn

• Build your culture the way you want to• In general, the best people from other programs don’t leave

their companies quickly..they stay on fast track• Fierce competition in the market in that 3-8 year range• Doesn’t address jobs being open for too long

Why not poach people who have gone through other programs

Who will lead the program?

• Not HR….HR supports but finance talent development is finance’s job!• The CFO and top leadership need to be bought in…champion/promote

program..but not run the day to day. • The day to day leadership is very hands on…need someone who is very

accessible to the program members to actively mentor/guide• Need to have a passion for developing talent• Huge time commitment..soup to nuts involvement• Suggest co-leaders to share time commitment• Should have a vested interest• Needs to be empowered on all things program related..will often need to referee

short term needs• The leadership will make or break the program…needs to be your best people• Should be viewed as a reward and a leadership opportunity for whoever is

chosen.

How will we recruit?• Partner with select universities…select recruiters if you have to. • Participate in the market as much as you can. Networking groups, university recruiting events,

articles etc etc• Use a variety of perspectives in the interview process….keep them consistent….same 5 or 6

people every time• Drive a consistent recruiting strategy….create your brand• Have a sell sheet. View yourself as marketing your product• Focus on fit and intangibles above all. Recruiting out of university is very different vs 3-5 yrs out• A history of excelling at what they put their mind to…school, sports, volunteerism etc• Require high GPA….Can’t teach IQ and shows initiative• Know the profile you are looking for• Have sample paths that can lay out the candidates future options• Use existing program members or graduates in the process…most powerful• Little things matter..follow ups, advice, suggested readings• Out of university, people want to feel important more than anything…give them undivided

attention..make them feel like they are the next CFO

What type of classes?

• Make it whatever you want it to be. • Suggest a mixture of technical classroom,

practical business projects, intangible leadership, and strategic case studies.

• Customize as much as you can. • Think Gen Y..video’s, simulations work better than

textbook style. Learn by doing• Leverage external sources if needed. Certification

programs for example.

• Follow through. Don’t over-promise while on program and under-deliver off program. Make sure strong roles exist. This will kill your reputation

• Watch out for age perception. You have developed a fast track…this will mean having very young people in very big roles. Make sure you are willing to offer this

• Requires huge commitment by the program leaders• Your program leader needs to be empowered• Don’t try to grow too fast• Keep the program sacred. You need to develop that credibility • Don’t be something you aren’t. A mature program is very different than one that is just

starting out. Careful of people that came through established programs and try to create a clone. Be your own program

• Don’t neglect to promote the program internally. Make sure everyone views it as the pipeline for the future and invests in it

• Don’t underestimate how different “Gen Y” can be. In many ways you will have to change your thinking/perception. Be open

• Program leader(s), managers will make the difference. Only allow the top people to be involved• It’s an iterative process. Be flexible. Try things, listen and rework over and over again. Constant coaching

and mentoring• Personal attention is what will build your program. It’s the only way to build• Top leadership and CFO need to be 100% supportive• Have a process to evaluate your managers and rotation quality. Be aggressive on this• Create “program projects”….Solve real business problems. Pitch out to top leadership. Identify the

problems you want the program to drive a solution for• Teach your managers as much as you teach your program members• Age and years of experience are a number. Focus on giving people stretch roles before they are even ready• Get graduates involved and giving back to the program• Travel often. Get the members together for classes, projects as much as possible. Huge domino benefits• Customize and be as flexible as possible. Make it a win – win for the company and the employee• Appeal to “Gen Y”..they are your market now• Focus on path. Show people options of what the next 5 yrs may look like • Leverage industry tools and certifications• Leadership, strategic and technical development are equally important. Focus on both

“Will Sutton, Executive Vice-President of BB&T, credits the bank’s internal Leadership Development Program for significantly boosting employee retention rates. “We studied retention levels over a five year period and found that -- for graduates of the Leadership Development Program -- the rate was 76%.” Notably, Sutton says this is 45% higher than the average retention rate for new employees who do not come through the program.”

Thank You

Contact Me Anytime!

Fabio MalagisiFabioMalagisi@Yahoo.com

Linkedin Profile: www.linkedin.com/pub/fabio-malagisi/4/122/ba0/ Edit