Emerson’s focused leadership development and executive and MBA recruiting programs complement organizational planning to create an action orientation that continually builds on core strengths to fuel growth.
The Right Talent
Managers at Emerson are self-selected, as high-achieving and innovative people seek out our company for its culture and reputation for success. Our organization provides them an opportunity to prosper and grow.
As continuity and an understanding of our processes underpin our approach, Emerson’s long-term employees comprise our first and largest resource pool for operating our organization and driving global initiatives. Consistently, a very high percentage of promotions come from within, and division and corporate officers typically have 15 or more years of service with Emerson. We believe this promote-from-within approach contributes to strong morale and helps maintain a cohesive organizational environment.
Additionally, Emerson’s emphasis on managing businesses and operations throughout the world with individuals native to the locale and familiar with the culture adds to our process’ effectiveness. We continually find high quality managers who master and apply our approaches, molding them to the work environment while staying true to the core philosophies and values. These individuals play a critical role in Emerson’s success as a truly globally entity.
Emerson supplements our leadership ranks with personnel from acquisitions, as well as by recruiting high-potential MBA graduates . When specific experience or skills are not available within Emerson, we recruit from other industries and companies. This infusion of outside talent adds new capabilities and perspectives that challenge and refresh our process.
Planning Our Management Teams
We employ a consistent and well-honed approach to organizational planning that balances fulfilling managerial needs with educating and developing our next generation of leaders. Each year, division and business leaders assess the managerial needs of the divisions in the context of ongoing initiatives and strategic mandates. We then review the status and performance of all managers with the CEO and discuss their potential to move into more challenging assignments. These discussions allow management to address problems and opportunities related to succession, performance diversity, and inject high-potential contributors into operating organizations.
With this detailed attention to recognizing and developing talent, Emerson helps high-potential managers maximize their opportunities and best fulfill their career potential. No measure illustrates the effectiveness of and commitment to organizational planning more than Emerson’s record of retention. Over the past five years, the average annual turnover (independent of retirements) of the more than 1,000 top managers consistently registers in the mid single digits. This mark affirms the level of pride and commitment resident within the Emerson organization.
Building Leaders from Within -- Leadership Training
High-performance managers have opportunities to learn and develop by running business processes and systems. We embellish this with advanced leadership development training programs. Since establishing these programs in 2001, more than 3,000 high-potential individuals have participated in multi-session educational programs throughout the world.
Emerson’s top management team assumes a primary teaching role which ensures close alignment of the curriculum with Emerson’s processes and practices as well as promoting active engagement among our next generation of leaders. The five members of Emerson’s Office of the Chief Executive regularly teach 50 days a year in aggregate, indicating the importance of the program and their commitment to passing on the essentials of Emerson’s management process to future generations.
We teach advanced leadership training in numerous locations in North America, Asia, Europe and to ensure that we build organizational capabilities in line with the opportunities we face. Given Asia’s size and importance to Emerson’s long term prosperity, Asian-based training represents approximately half of the program.
Managers with more than five years of service are considered for the Emerson Leadership Program, an intensive leadership course that draws together people from every business and every part of the world. The program focuses on the Emerson management process, and provides a forum for young managers throughout Emerson to network and gain exposure to senior company leaders who comprise the program’s faculty.
The Emerson leadership program’s curriculum entails three one-week sessions and encompasses all aspects of division- and business-level management including organizational development, strategy, customer relationships, production, human resource, finance and acquisition management. Individual coaching on leadership skills and styles further enriches the content and tailors the program to individual participants. Graduates emerge with a more substantive understanding of Emerson and a deeper commitment to our organization. Of the nearly 500 high-potential managers trained to date, nearly 90 percent remain with Emerson and approximately half have received promotions.