Leadership development in a global chemical manufacturer

A People Leader Development Series (PLDS) was implemented in the manufacturing division of a global chemical manufacturer, as there was a need for improving leadership skills among leaders to meet the demands of the business. The purpose of this paper is to present this as a case study to describe this approach and provide successful implementation program notes.

A global team of leadership professionals planned a three-stage people leadership development program. This was stepping up, starting out, and sharpening up. Stepping up was for individual contributors who desired to become people leaders. Starting out was for people leaders who are new in the role. Sharpening up was developed for existing people leaders in the role for three to five years. All were designed with assessments, classroom training, and Web-enabled training for reinforcement, and with a global peer development network. Manager involvement and coaching were critical for the success of the programs. Company executives were sponsors as well as instructors.

The complete group of attendees said that they feel supported in their development plans. Three-fourth of the managers said that they feel their front-line people leader training is very effective, and the remainder one-quarter, said that they feel it is extremely effective as they see these results as the performance of people leaders has improved. The most important outcome for all of the managers and attendees was the development of the peer network. It was recommended that the program continue with one new emphasis, of increasing the post-program support with managers of the people leaders.

It was important to design the evaluation from the start, as this was necessary to prove the return on investment. The global team designed a survey built around leadership competencies so that the transfer of learning could be understood and documented. Data were collected via an online survey which consists of the company’s leadership competency model. A change rating scale (1 = change for the worse to 5 = significant positive change) was used to assess the effect of change in behavior or performance on the critical competencies that were the main focus of the PLDS. The survey was administered to participants and their supervisors to compare the rate of change in behavioral competencies, as a result of the PLDS. Managers of the participants were interviewed over the phone to collect qualitative data about the effectiveness of the PLDS to clarify its impact on individuals as well as the organization. The company surveyed the pilot groups, and this was all. In the future, a commitment toward a strategic evaluation plan would be appropriate.

Practically speaking, these are the factors that contributed to the success of this program: the regional human resource (HR) managers played an important role in the coordination and developmental feedback. They interpreted the assessment data and were trained on how to do this. The Managers of the PLDS participants were coached in the methods and ways of leading this development for their direct reports. The regional executives taught and played an important role, as they are now mentors with PLDS attendees. The global leadership development team (who resided in the regions) designed the whole process from beginning to end. They were skilled and had resources to do this. The global leadership development team was led by a real star who developed her own direct reports. This is as the culture of this business demanded this.

As this leadership development program was held in multiple cultures, there were differences in some of the timings and the socialization needed for success. An additional day was added for this reason; so, the people leaders felt that they had enough time to socialize what they learned. A peer learning network was developed as part of the design. This was as anticipated, a major success.

There are three ways of approaching people leader development, depending upon the maturity and the skills of the people leader. This is important because there are differing needs.