The multinational consumer packaged goods conglomerate had transitioned to a new CEO. There was impetus to evaluate leadership capabilities to ensure leadership was ready to drive the next chapter of growth. Technological knowledge and hard-to-assess, emerging skills were high on the agenda. The company requested that we conduct a gap analysis of their leadership capabilities. It also wanted to update its leadership capability model and global leadership development strategy.
With the overarching objectives for the gap analysis established, the CPG company began a 3-month effort to diagnose gaps in leadership capabilities. Key stakeholder interviews and focus groups were calibrated against quantitative behavioral data, existing leadership and team data sets, and external benchmarking.
The existing leadership capability model was interrogated against performance and engagement data. Focus groups revealed regional gaps in interpretation about how leaders were expected to act and behave. Statistical analyses confirmed the finding and found additional opportunities for intentional capability-building. Evolving the language of the model and strategic communications about the review process as a whole played a key role in improving the value of the leadership capability model.
Regional best practices were collated from People VPs and their teams and leveraged into the global strategy. The employee lifecycle was analyzed and cross-referenced with rich data sets on performance and engagement. Key opportunities were spotlighted to provide leadership development in moments-that-matter and to set guide rails that harmonized leadership capabilities across the business but provided sufficient regional autonomy.
The leadership capability model was updated to clarify soft skills and behavioral priorities. The language of the model and its guidelines were refreshed to improve global understanding. To consolidate leadership development opportunities, several new, on-demand tools and resources were made available through the company's LMS. To jumpstart the improved leadership engine, the focus next shifted to a bespoke project on performance management and leadership culture.
6-month project duration.
The work covered bands zero to seven.
We elevated a leadership capability model with 10 strengths to map to organizational values.
Your level of insight into our senior leaders - and their evident level of trust in you - is impressive. You get our culture. I think you've found our gaps, and somehow it now seems really obvious.
I appreciate the attention you're giving to truly listening to what we need in the region. It's often different from what HQ thinks we need or should do. We know what we're doing is right for us. We also welcome best practices from other regions!
Global People VP
Regional People VP
