Business Issue
A global communications and media corporation—faced with increased competitive pressures and highly dependent on its talented staff—initiated a talent development program. Accelerating the development of individuals who demonstrate real potential is a business imperative for this corporation. The organization knows its people make the difference with customers, and to retain its market position and grow, the corporation must invest now in the next generation of high-potential leaders.
Solution
After a comprehensive needs analysis, a set of leadership competencies were identified. Wilson Learning then designed and implemented a 5-day program for an elite group of high potentials throughout the United States, Canada, and Latin America. The program addressed leadership competencies focused on improving communications, productivity, innovation and creativity, relationship building, strategic thinking, and talent management. The program was designed using content from several programs, including Leading from Within™, Building Relationship Versatility™, Managing Styles in Conflict™, Leading for Growth™, Negotiating to Yes™, and Strategic Business Calling™. The solution included pre- and post-work, as well as ongoing group-based coaching and mentoring to ensure participants understood the relevance and application of newly acquired skills to their jobs.
Results
Feedback from a follow-up survey of these high-potential leaders cited improved performance and business results. Some of the advancements the program helped to achieve are:
- Over 70% of participants indicated improved interpersonal relationships with their staff and clients.
- 65% of participants said they were able to effectively talk with new buy points of their major accounts as a result of the skills they learned.
- 58% of the participants indicated they were equipped to successfully meet with senior decision makers within their major accounts as a result of the skills they learned.
- 87% of participants reported improvement in key skill areas.
These high-potential individuals also indicated a significant impact on their sales success. When asked to focus on a post-solution sale, participants credited, on average, over 31% of the revenue from the sale to the skills learned from the Wilson Learning solution, separated from all other factors.
In examining a sample of 28 individual sales totaling over $45.8M in revenue, participants indicated that over $17M of that revenue could be attributed to the skills they learned by taking part in Wilson Learning’s custom solution.