Wal-Mart and McDonald’s make Top 20 Best Companies for Leadership ranking

Philadelphia -- Wal-Mart Stores and McDonald’s were the only retailers to crack the Hay Group’s eighth annual Best Companies for Leadership Study Top 20 list.



The study surveyed nearly 18,000 individuals at more than 2,200 organizations worldwide to examine how companies develop their leaders and foster cultures of innovation. This year, Procter & Gamble led the Top 20. Wal-Mart ranked No. 7, and McDonald’s came in at No. 8.



According to Hay Group’s study, the Best Companies for Leadership are purposeful and strategic in developing, enabling and motivating leaders throughout the organization to do their best. In fact, 73% of the Top 20 companies reported giving everyone at every level of the organization the opportunity to develop and practice the capabilities needed to lead others, compared to only 47% of all other companies. These future-focused companies also look ahead to what roles are – and will be – mission-critical to their success, and then intentionally identify and develop leaders with the right skills to fill those roles.



To facilitate this process, the Top 20 companies reported doing more to develop their population of new and mid-level managers, with higher usage rates of web-based leadership modules (72% versus 39% at all other companies), classroom-based leadership training (80% versus 55% ) and mentoring by a senior manager or executive (68% versus 39%).



In other findings:

• 82% of the Best Companies for Leadership use rewards or reprimands that are based on rigorous measurements of performance against goals, compared to only 58% of all other companies. Similarly, 89% of the Top 20 companies encourage employees to set challenging or aggressive goals, versus only 69% of all other companies.

• 76% of the Top 20 companies reward and stimulate cross-business-unit collaboration to develop new business lines, compared to only 54% of all other companies.

• The Top 20 companies are also more likely to encourage employees to learn in areas outside of their areas of expertise (70% versus 48%) and to recognize and reward employees for really new and different business ideas (77% versus 58%).