Replacing Leadership at EMC

900 Words2 Pages

Replacing Leadership EMC

In 2003, when EMC, a Massachusetts-based information infrastructure provider, began its corporate transformation five years ago, EMC saw a potential issue and opportunity in reduction of future talent and leadership resources. To keep pace with the company's growth, like most global companies, EMC faced the knowledge management challenge of preparing young managers and up-and-coming executives to replace retiring top-level Baby Boomers. With EMC’s continue double-digit growth, they anticipate in 2008 and 2009 the number for leadership talent is going to have to grow by 20 percent. EMC projected a need for another thousand leaders over the next couple of years to keep pace.

To ensure future EMC leaders across the globe are infused to the right corporate culture, the company has created its own corporate university, EMCU. This university not only offers professional and personal development courses, but EMCU also has a leadership program that mentor, develop, train and educate key talent in different skills and tools, in transformational leadership, knowledge management and understanding of EMC organizational culture. EMC also established a leadership organization talent review, which helps them identify capabilities and skills of employee that would help achieve high goals and results. EMC internal efforts were increased by their partnership with Teacher's College Columbia University. EMC, working with Columbia to identify and isolate the attributes and criteria that make its high potentials unique to those of other companies and to determine how those strive for qualities result or translate into learning programs. EMC identified five essential leadership capabilities: leading people; strategic agility, change, and innovation; collaborating in a complex environment; customer and results focus; and global execution. The leadership development curriculum is built around these capabilities. These skills, tools, and training of new leaders will mitigate some of EMC concerns regarding the issue of replacement leaders. What may give EMC the edge is its focus on distinct leadership capabilities. EMC has narrowed down exactly what its up-and-comers need to know, and how it's going to deliver it to them. EMC can provide the leading-edge technology training the company need to compete while also creating the leaders EMC needs to sustain their aggressive growth goals."

The success of this program has been positive.

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