After three years, Aon Hewitt has in 2014 again generated a list of companies, which show business performance based on their leadership practices. The study explores how organisations around the world assess, select, develop, reward their leaders. It analyzes the execution of leadership practices as well as the strategy that guides it. Criteria include company reputation, leadership culture and values, and business performance over a five-year period.

Over the last decade, their research shows that the top listed companies have 9% higher total shareholder return than their industry peers, 92% of them continue their investments in leadership regardless of financial performance, and 84% of their leaders can explain how leadership investments impact financial performance. A further analysis shows key characteristics in their leadership approach:

• Assessment: top companies evaluate their leaders and talent to have a better understanding of their experiences, competencies, values.
• Awareness: leaders at top companies have a solid understanding of their strengths and weaknesses which they utilise to grow their personality
• Resilience: top companies respond to the VUCA world by creating more inclusive cultures of multiple perspectives and ideas
• Engaged leaders: top leaders show stability, demonstrate versatility and stay connected to people and events inside and outside their organisation
• Sustainability: top companies have created a tradition of talent programs, which quickly respond to market needs

Here is the top of the list:

1. General Electric (US)
2. IBM (US)
3. Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (India)
4. General Mills, Inc. (US)
5. ICICI Bank Ltd. (India)
6. Procter & Gamble (US)
7. Colgate-Palmolive Co. (US)
8. 3M (US)
9. Novartis AG (Switzerland)
10. Mahindra Group (India)
11. McDonald’s Corp. (US)
12. Intel (US)
13. Whirlpool (US)
14. ArcelorMittal (Luxembourg)
15. Weg SA (Brazil)

Remarkable again, that Europe is not too prominent on this list.

 

Addendum: Just realized that Dave Ulrich’s RBL Group is doing the survey, here is an article which sheds some light on the criteria.