Mentoring as a tool for Leadership Development

Case Study

1999

Bombardier Aerospace – Accelerated Development of High Potential Employees for Succession Development

Assignment:

Design and implement an accelerated development program for succession development

Organizational Goals:

To determine if organization was investing in the “right” people early enough to make a long term difference
To accelerate the development of high potential and high performing individuals – reduce the time to be “ready” for increasing role complexity
To retain key talent both within the organization, and/or within the industry

Context:

Attracting, developing and retaining talent has become a significant issue in engineering and other professional groups: 42% of the Canadian workforce is 45 - 54 years old and the 25 – 34 age group are 1/2 the size of the baby boomer generation
Social forces - rising quality & service expectations
Cost competitiveness & globalization had impacted business
Pre-9/11 deHavilland plant: Aerospace group had approximately: 6,000 employees. Post-9/11: 3,000 employees.
At the time of the program, the industry average turn-over for hi-potential engineers was +30%, coupled with failures due to promotion before readiness

Sage Mentors Inc. Solution:

Designed, implemented, and supported the 12-month accelerated learning program, Building Our Future™, incorporating: action learning teams, external CEO mentors, internal sponsors, learning plans tied to organizational objectives, extensive program evaluation processes.

Results:

Attrition after 18 mo. <1% delivering ROI calculated based only on reduced cost of replacement: approximately 190%
ROI contribution for 1st group at the 18 month mark: 2,000%
ROI contribution for 2nd group at the 18 month mark: 600%

Identified measurable savings
Productivity gains
Reduced time
Customer service gains by participants’ implemented learning

5 years later and after the impact of 9/11 is taken into account, retained participants currently in significant management/leadership roles: all had substantive increase in responsibility and were “ready sooner” for more complex roles than was typical – Chief Integrator, Director, other line managers

(Excerpts and extractions from speech “Delivering Business Value Through Leadership Mentoring In Your Organization”, delivered at the Conference Board of Canada, November 2004: Catherine Mossop, Sage Mentors Inc., Carol Ford, Bombardier Aerospace, Michael Babin, Bombardier Aerospace)