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Seeing Forward: Succession Planning at 3M — Transcript

by SHRM Foundation · 3,203 words · 488 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00[Music]
0:10hi I'm Wayne CIO in a recent
0:13international study by the Sherm
0:14Foundation more than 500 seite
0:17Executives were asked to identify the
0:19top human capital challenges that could
0:21derail their firm's ability to achieve
0:24key strategic business objectives in the
0:26next 3 to 5 years fully 75% of
0:30Executives from companies both large and
0:32small identified succession planning as
0:34their number one challenge followed
0:37closely by the need to develop a
0:39pipeline of leaders at all levels they
0:42also told us that they would like to
0:43learn from companies that do these
0:45things well so this year the Sherm
0:48Foundation traveled to St Paul Minnesota
0:50to speak with 3m a company consistently
0:53recognized as one of the world's most
0:55Innovative and admired companies as well
0:58as one of the best companies for leaders
1:01and for developing leaders just how does
1:033M achieve such effective succession
1:05planning and leadership development
1:07originally founded in 1902 3M comprises
1:11more than 35 business units organized
1:14into six Market leading businesses
1:17consumer and office display and Graphics
1:20Electro and Communications Health Care
1:24industrial and Transportation safety
1:27security and protection services with
1:302007 worldwide sales of$ 24.5 billion
1:34dollar 63% of which come from outside
1:37the US 3M sells products in more than
1:40200 countries it employs more than
1:4276,000 people worldwide including 7,000
1:46researchers and it has been awarded
1:48569 us patents in 2007 it spent almost
1:536% of its gross revenues on research and
1:57development leadership is a little bit
1:59like driving the same car at a different
2:01racetrack so it really doesn't matter if
2:03you're in the in the healthcare business
2:04or if you're in the industrial business
2:06largely uh speaking the uh the rules
2:09apply in both in both of those cases and
2:12really right across fundamentals still
2:14work you know the fundamentals work in
2:15science the fundamentals work in
2:17business the fundamentals work in
2:19leadership and uh and in management at
2:213m. a common set of leadership
2:23attributes links all management
2:25practices in assessment development
2:27succession and compensation
2:30think from outside in create and execute
2:32strategy based on a deep understanding
2:35of customers and
2:37competitors Drive Innovation and growth
2:40set stretch goals to identify new
2:42approaches to markets and customers
2:45develop teach and engage others Inspire
2:47them to stretch take risks and develop
2:50their skills fully make courageous
2:53decisions while holding yourself and
2:56others accountable for them lead with
2:58energy passion and urg
3:00contribute to an environment where teams
3:02can respond quickly to change and are
3:04motivated to succeed live 3M values
3:08never compromise honesty Integrity or
3:11professional ethics always encourage
3:13inclusive
3:15behaviors 3m's leadership attributes
3:17underly assessment development and
3:19succession they describe what leaders
3:22need to know what they need to do and
3:24what kind of people they need to
3:26be 3M has um several legs of their
3:30leadership development we have the
3:31formal training that goes on through um
3:35the leadership development center we
3:37have the training through experience so
3:40people have different experiences as
3:41they grow their career I we are able to
3:44offer a lot of different opportunities
3:46to employees uh throughout their career
3:49you know we have we participate in
3:50health markets consumer in office
3:53display and Graphics industrial moving
3:56from one of those markets to another is
3:59just like moving from one company to
4:00another 3m's award-winning approach to
4:02leadership development has the following
4:05characteristics leaders teaching leaders
4:08focus on business needs build
4:10relationships with the executives
4:12incorporate business critical content
4:15use action learning develop customized
4:18training we have over 300 leaders
4:20teaching in our programs every year and
4:23you know when you take and add up the
4:25number of hours and where these people
4:27are all over the world teaching for us
4:29it would probably take um about 70 more
4:32people on our staff every year to
4:34fulfill what they're doing worldwide for
4:37us and you know the executives love this
4:40piece you start hearing their compassion
4:42their passion for the business um you
4:45pick up where their values are the
4:47integrity and the ethics of the people
4:50um of how they want to build and make 3M
4:53a better place to work I have a
4:54philosophy that our business will grow
4:56at the speed that we grow our leaders
4:59first of all I set aside my time with
5:00the customers so I blocked that time uh
5:03as a first priority uh then my second
5:06priority really is people development
5:08and Leadership uh everything else can
5:11wait Frankly Speaking so by spending
5:13more of my time intentionally on people
5:15issue and Leadership issue I not only
5:18show people that I really care about
5:20leadership but I get to know a lot of
5:21people through that process you have to
5:23try to train people how to think you
5:25have to try to get them to to imagine
5:27how to see forward uh how to
5:30uh think their way through circumstances
5:33which are which are unusual and
5:34different and that's what separates I
5:36think really great companies from from
5:38average companies yeah George uh he
5:40spends quite a bit of time on this we
5:42take two hours out of every one of our
5:45monthly operating committee meetings
5:47just to talk about succession planning
5:49and development um against our director
5:53and and vice president level positions
5:55within the company uh what I'm trying to
5:57do is to to test people with with with
6:02with logic uh he meets with every uh
6:06business leader and every staff leader
6:08twice a year to do an in-depth
6:10discussion about high potential talent
6:12in their organization he's actively
6:14engaged with us in our um leadership
6:17development programs for our high
6:19potential employees so he sets the tone
6:23by his personal engagement uh I think
6:26coaching is um a central part
6:30of any Leader's role and um it's
6:33coaching the people in their
6:36organization it's coaching their
6:38colleagues and their peers and it's also
6:41doing upward coaching upward coaching is
6:45um to me providing um feedback and um
6:49brainstorming about um Improvement
6:53opportunities with people in the
6:55organization who may be at um higher
6:58levels than what you are when we do this
7:01type of face tof face meeting you
7:03provide your coaching and your
7:05assessment to the employee but you have
7:06to be able to listen from the employee
7:09and you have to be able to ask to the
7:10employee what should I do in a different
7:13way in order to allow you to improve and
7:17how can you help me to become a better
7:19manager you must have enough
7:21self-confidence to accept to be
7:23challenged by your direct report if you
7:25don't do these type of things I think
7:27that you are missing some of the key
7:29point points as a as a leader all of our
7:31action learning projects are business-
7:34driven they um are strategic
7:36opportunities they are all real types of
7:39of um opportunities for 3M that we want
7:42to work on we tend to create these small
7:44projects and put one or two people uh in
7:47that project and ask them to have all
7:49the freedom they need all the authority
7:52they need to go out and find new markets
7:54uh find new solutions they um last about
7:5710 days um people work on them you know
8:01from 700 in the morning until 10: at
8:03night and then at the end of these
8:05projects we do
8:06presentations um we do a presentation to
8:09Georg and as operating team where they
8:11defend um their
8:14findings people have to get familiar and
8:16comfortable with taking risk with the
8:18idea of uh imagining something and then
8:20driving it to conclusion and having ones
8:24got there being successful at that you
8:25know there's that old adage that success
8:28breeds uh confidence and confidence B
8:31competence what we are trying to do is
8:33to push
8:34Innovation across all of the of the
8:37activities Innovation is not just about
8:38new product Innovation is about uh the
8:42business model is about marketing it's
8:45about human resources for example we are
8:48always working with our colleague from
8:49HR in order to see what we could be
8:52doing in a different way and because it
8:54is so much in our DNA Innovation does
8:58not happen by posing on our people that
9:01you have to innovate something it has to
9:03be a way of life in everybody's uh work
9:06uh hours so nurturing the environment
9:10that Innovation can take place uh
9:13automatically is really the key piece of
9:16of innovation process you have managers
9:18and supervisors who do not allow the
9:20Bubble Up process of ideas uh and if
9:24ideas get killed in that bubble of
9:27process uh you do not have a lot of
9:29inovative ideas you show the people that
9:31some of the mistakes are tolerated they
9:34will not bring up good ideas but you
9:36have to try to create that kind of
9:37environment where people can can be
9:39themselves I am a big believer in uh uh
9:43in people being themselves when you're
9:45trying to create really creative
9:47organizations you have to let them have
9:50a little bit more rope let them be
9:51themselves let them uh Express their
9:54opinions uh threers love to tell these
9:56stories about how oh we created this
9:58project after being told 52 times no and
10:01we went through a skunk works here and
10:03look at what we did well if you step
10:05back from that is some phenomenal
10:07leadership going on people figuring out
10:09how to go around an obstacle how to make
10:11it happen anyway how to drop the price
10:14when supposedly it's not possible how to
10:16figure out the next chemical formula
10:18when it's supposedly not possible and
10:20deadlines often help that 3M has
10:23established a high performance culture
10:25that respects the dignity and worth of
10:27all individuals encourages initi itive
10:29challenges individual capabilities and
10:32provides equal opportunity for
10:34development being very inclusive in
10:37whatever they're doing in the business
10:38they want to be part of it they want to
10:40come in every day and know how what I do
10:42every day contributes to the direction
10:44of the business what am I doing how do I
10:46make a difference the development of
10:48leaders is something that's not an event
10:51but a process in a daily process 3M has
10:55built seamless leadership processes in
10:57assessment development and in succession
11:00around its core leadership attributes
11:02because of what George has done we've
11:05really been able to step up the game if
11:08you will in terms of assessing people
11:11and moving them and more tightly
11:12integrating it to both development and
11:15succession plan and that really changes
11:17the environment it's one thing to have
11:19high standards it's one thing to have
11:20programs but when you see the modeling
11:22at the very top of someone who spends a
11:25lot of his own time teaching classes and
11:28willing to talk to people about how to
11:31do it better or how to think through a
11:32problem it it really changes the
11:35environment of a place so it sounds like
11:36he's really uh leading by example
11:41exactly I think the business strategy
11:44plays um the central role without um the
11:48Strategic Direction and understanding
11:51the Strategic Direction um it's hard to
11:54do succession planning and to have a a
11:58meaningful and robust succession
11:59planning process it's best to try to
12:02focus on the most critical jobs
12:03otherwise you kind of dilute the process
12:05you spend a long time talking about jobs
12:08that aren't as critical to the
12:09organization human capital planning has
12:12five key objectives align available
12:15knowledge skills and abilities with the
12:17strategy of the business identify talent
12:20and development needs early and also
12:22build depth in the organization leverage
12:25Talent across
12:26businesses Drive diversity as of
12:29business value balance internal
12:32development and outside
12:34hiring so at the very same time that our
12:36businesses are going through their
12:38strategic planning process they are also
12:40going through their human capital
12:41planning process and to make sure that
12:43they have the people in place uh to
12:46execute on their strategic plans one
12:48thing that uh we've got nailed down and
12:50we have for years is executive
12:52sponsorship of these processes uh from
12:54the very top they're supported and that
12:57makes them move very smoothly
12:59all countries all businesses will
13:01participate in putting together human
13:03capital plan we can look at all
13:05Workforce categories look at the needs
13:09uh over the next 5 years and how those
13:10align to the Strategic direction of this
13:12company the objectives of the sucession
13:15planning process can be stated concisely
13:18to identify top talent that is high
13:21potential individuals both within
13:23functions and corporate wide to develop
13:26pools of talent for critical positions
13:28and and development plans for key
13:30leaders 3m's executive resources
13:33committee assures consistency both in
13:36policy and practice in global succession
13:39planning for Key Management and
13:40executive positions including the
13:43process for identifying developing and
13:45tracking the progress of high potential
13:48individuals another barrier is also if
13:50management does not have commitments in
13:53terms of time in terms of the efforts
13:55they need to put into this and uh say
13:59well you know I have other goals to
14:01attain uh Targets on the business side I
14:04I don't really have time for for my
14:06employees those are huge derailers in
14:09any
14:11organization with the kind of diversity
14:13we have at 3M there is no recipe there's
14:16no sort of natural um
14:20predefined set of roles they're going to
14:22go through but we have commonalties
14:25across many businesses whether those be
14:27marketing leadership roles or technical
14:29leadership roles and uh because we have
14:32the benefit of being able to move people
14:35across different businesses we can
14:37identify the types of roles without
14:39talking about specific roles and still
14:41make sure that people uh are developing
14:43in that direction if a minor doesn't get
14:46specific the employee will start driving
14:49those conversations too people are not
14:51going to be just sitting there waiting
14:53for their future to be painted for them
14:55they want to be engaged they want to be
14:57driving their own future it happens
15:00somewhat insidiously sometimes you don't
15:02even know that something like that
15:04happens we do a lot of cross functional
15:06type projects uh so put people in a CR
15:09functional project meaning that they get
15:11to talk to a lot of different leaders
15:13other than their own supervisors and
15:15managers so over time uh they get to
15:18know a lot of managers and leaders and
15:20our leaders also get to know certain
15:22individuals through those cross
15:24functional type projects there is
15:25something like trying to hide Nails in
15:28your part Market you can do it for quite
15:31some time but eventually it will pop out
15:34very often am having breakfast or lunch
15:37with new employees and we always share
15:39with them the fact that if they want to
15:41succeed in 3M they have to move outside
15:44of their comfort zone and we are telling
15:46them that they should have job rotation
15:48so we are pushing our employees to move
15:50from one division to another division to
15:53AO this Silo
15:54approach well there are two things we
15:57can work on um there all go back to um
16:00certainly automating uh the process one
16:04to make sure that we have a sound
16:06database which you can use to uh to do a
16:08search right and then secondly to also
16:12allow management to do a little bit of s
16:14Service where they can uh look up the
16:16information themselves instead of having
16:19to rely on HR having to provide all the
16:21information for them I think you're
16:23starting to see things like leadership
16:25brand employment brand engagement all
16:28start starting to come together and the
16:31more that we can make that seamless in
16:33how we run the company I think it'll be
16:36an even more exciting place and will do
16:39even better in the
16:41market in the end it's part of the
16:43Legacy that a CEO Hands On to the Next
16:45Generation so he clearly wants to try to
16:49create uh something that can continue
16:51because you don't want to be in a
16:53position
16:54where um a superbly performing company
16:58suddenly because it has a poor
17:00transition ends up uh uh in in a bad
17:04place it's clearly in our best interests
17:07uh for all sorts of different reasons
17:08for legacy reasons for financial reasons
17:10uh just for doing what's right reasons
17:13that you want to try to uh encourage
17:15people uh to develop great succession
17:18and I think that uh there's nothing at
17:22least to me more fulfilling than to see
17:25somebody that's come along through the
17:27ranks uh that was in a sense raw
17:31material and turning into a great leader
17:34to take over a great company like 3M if
17:36you can leave behind this kind of legacy
17:38of great leadership of great management
17:40it's the culmination of of a career not
17:43only to have done well in a company but
17:45to leave the company in better hands in
17:47better shape than it was when you took
17:48it
17:50over I've always believed passionately
17:53that in any of the roles whether it's a
17:57technical area in the laboratory a sales
18:00area marketing organization that it
18:03really is about the people and using the
18:06skills and talents and abilities of our
18:09people aligning those to our business
18:12Direction and when we make those
18:15connections and people understand the
18:17direction of the business wonderful
18:20things happen when you see competitors
18:23sort of lined up against one
18:26another most of them can spend the same
18:28amount of money on capital or on R&D or
18:32on marketing or on distribution but the
18:35thing that separates the best from the
18:37rest of the people you hire and how you
18:40lead and motivate them here are five
18:42lessons that any company can learn about
18:43leadership development and succession
18:46planning the CEO must drive the talent
18:49agenda it all begins with commitment
18:51from the top identify and communicate a
18:54common set of leadership attributes to
18:57serve as a road map for all leaders and
18:59followers this promotes a common set of
19:01expectations for everyone in the
19:03organization about what is expected of
19:06leaders use candid comprehensive
19:09performance reviews as the building
19:11blocks for assessment development and
19:13management consensus about performance
19:15and potential keep to a regular schedule
19:18for performance reviews broader Talent
19:20reviews outside one's functional area
19:23and the identification of talent pools
19:25for critical positions link all
19:27decisions about talent to the strategy
19:30of the organization in the future your
19:32ongoing challenge will be to link every
19:35decision about Talent it's assessment
19:37development and place in leadership
19:39succession to business strategy where
19:42will your organization be in 3 to five
19:45years and what kinds of talent will you
19:47need to be successful when legendary
19:50hockey player Wayne Gretzky was asked
19:52what made him so great he had a simple
19:54answer I don't skate to where the puck
19:56is I skate to where the is going to be
20:00your task is to figure out where the
20:02puck is going to be in your business and
20:04then take steps now to be sure that you
20:06have the talent to get you there
20:10[Music]

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