2013 HCI Global Talent Management Summit Part 4: GE’s Approach to Developing World-Class Talent and Strong Leaders

Many firms possess leadership development processes, but few are as well known as General Electric’s program.  GE’s proven techniques and strategies for developing an internal pipeline of future leaders has provided for continued success for the firm and spawned leaders poached by the competition.  Day two of the 2013 HCI Global Talent Management Summit saw Jeffrey Barnes, Leader of the Crotonville Campus at GE share some of the lessons learned by the firm through their experience what the company has planned for the future.

Barnes described the changes to the history of GE's competitors beginning in 1956 with only American companies to the globally competitive environment in 2013.  As GE began to explore their current state in 2009 they came up with one word - beige, and they realized they would need to make some significant changes.

“There’s no such thing as a 130 year plan,” declared Barnes.  GE needed to reimagine their Crotonville leadership process and they started by looking at their content.  They found that short is better than long, online options are a must, and the classroom time should be used to focus on the experience and environment.

At GE the goal is to have leaders inspire others to be their best, and Barnes described their method to connect people with the processes.   First, one has to tell people what is expected of them.  Then, one should focus on how to best help people to reach those goals and finally, one ends the process by holding people accountable to what is expected of them.  GE found ways to try to use every inch of their Crotonville campus because according to Barnes, “When you change people’s locations, you change their thinking, and change their behavior.”

There is a lot of great content coming today on day two of the 2013 Global Talent Management Summit, and for members who were unable to attend in person feel free to follow us on twitter (@Human_Capital) and watch for tweets with the hashtag #hcievents.