Coca-Cola is using the No.1 brand position to attract the best talents for leadership.

Executive summary: Hay Group research has spotted the number 20 Best Companies for leadership. Coca-Cola's Terry Hildebrand, group director of global talent and development  and Alison Jerden, a member of her team, told about "the lengths to which this company goes to develop and secure its pipeline of talent", states the Hay Group in this interview. Edited by Peter Horn This Hay group interview with Coca-Cola's Terry Hildebrand the group director of global talent and development and Alison Jerden, a member of her team, reveals just how progressive The Coca-Cola Company is when it comes to leadership: One can learn about "the lengths to which this company goes to develop and secure its pipeline of talent. From comprehensive expat programs to advanced skills within matrixed structures, few firms take leadership as seriously as Coca-Cola".

The question first asked  was "what key leadership practices do you feel that The Coca-Cola Company is doing effectively". The answer:

"(...) We start with the business, tying everything to the company's overall global strategy and 2020 vision. This includes examining current changes taking place around the world to determine the impact on core business capabilities, how the workplace will be defined and the types of leaders needed and how should they be developed. This future forward look impacts everything from external sourcing to internal talent management and development," say Terry Hildebrand and Alison Jerden.

This focus has us differentiate our approach to leadership across key talent segments, markets and geographies," they state.

"(...) The leadership experience required to run high-growth emerging markets is very different from what is needed for more highly developed, mature markets. It also puts a focus on the creation of several programs to attract, retain and develop women leaders including the formation of a women's leadership council and a women in leadership development program."

The open leadership positions
They use people development forums and "an internal 'slating' process to look at global talent for open leadership positions. We consider critical experiences, past performance, potential, leadership skills, career and mobility preferences. (...) We provide the slated talent to the local hiring team to consider. This ensures a robust pipeline and that we have the right talent for our biggest opportunities".

"(...) Our annual performance management process requires you to have clear objectives which are agreed across any matrix relationship. Given the global nature of our company many leaders find themselves leading multiple countries with very different cultures. On the job development and experience is key to our talent management process. Before a person finds themselves in this position they have already operated in multiple countries (...)."

"(...) We have a global mobility team that helps with all the logistics and details and provides a cross-cultural training program for our associates and their families. We run language training, provide education consultants and placement assistance for those with children and offer 'destination services' and 'settling in services' to help people get set up in a new country. On the talent and development side, we have a ninety-day plan for on-boarding and ramping up, plus manager, HR and peer support."

"For all our leaders (...) it starts with the company's leadership competency model (which contains three levels: leader of Leader, leader of  others and leader of self). We then link our competency model to our performance management system connecting the 'what's (objectives) to the how's (the competencies) so it provides direct linkage and focus on how a leader is achieving results through development of the competencies required. There is also direct linkage to a leader's development plans (highlighting the company's leadership training programs and learning initiatives). This aligned and integrated approach to leadership development allows a strategic focus and a clear linkage to business performance and getting results.

"One of the things about being the number one brand in the world is people look to you first."

The Coca-Cola Company is number six on Hay Group's 2010 Best Companies for Leadership top 20 list.

The top 20 Best Companies
There have been some notable shifts in the 2010 listing. Two European firms formerly outside the 2009 top 20 – Siemens and Banco Santander – have jumped straight into the 2010 top 5, remarks The Hay Group. "BASF is a new arrival from Europe. Intel has also made a big jump from beyond the top firms to join the top three."

Other new campanies in this year’s top 20 include Microsoft, FedEx, Pepsico and Pfizer while Infosys, IKEA, Zappos, UPS and General Mills have dropped out of the front-runners’ listing.

GE maintains its top-notch reputation for leadership excellence and several others – P&G, Coca-Cola, Walmart, McDonald’s, Accenture and Southwest Airlines – all show consistency, changing places but nonetheless maintaining their position in the overall top ten.

1  General Electric
2  Procter & Gamble
3  Intel Corporation
4  Siemens
5  Banco Santander
6  Coca-Cola
7  McDonald's Corporation
8  Accenture
9  Walmart
10 Southwest Airlines
11 ABB
12 Microsoft
13 PepsiCo
14 Goldman Sachs
15 Hewlett-Packard
16 Unilever
17 Cisco Systems
18 FedEx
19 Pfizer Inc.
20 BASF

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