Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:20 PM Page 1
Great People. Great Organizations. Great Results.
10
20
24
26
2012 Vol. 9, No. 1
is
!

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:20 PM Page 2
R I C H W E L L I N S
, CNBC’s Asia Business Leaders Awards (ABLA), the premier awards competition for executives in the Asia-Pacific region, marked its 10th anniversary.
For most of those years, DDI has proudly served as the ABLA research partner. I have had the privilege of participating, with my colleagues, in the award-selection process by interviewing the finalists and serving on the panel of judges.
That’s how I met Carlos Ghosn, chairman & CEO of Nissan, and Dr. Pailin
Chuchottaworn, president & CEO of PTT. These two extraordinary leaders were among the 2011 ABLA winners, each having demonstrated an incredible proficiency in formulating and executing strategy, managing talent, and driving innovation.
But what impressed me most about them was how they guided their organizations’ responses to devastating humanitarian crises. Under Ghosn, Nissan donated vehicles, money, and staff time to aid relief efforts in the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Dr. Pailin, meanwhile, led the way as PTT and its people were on the front lines of search, rescue, and clean-up work after last year’s flooding in Thailand.
Both of these men, when faced with natural disasters, shifted their priorities overnight.
That says a lot about them. They recognized the right thing to do, and they took action—an admirable, if intangible quality that marks the difference between a strong leader and a great leader. And they did what they did by not only leading from the front, but by encouraging and inspiring all of their employees to get involved.
You can read about Ghosn and Dr. Pailin beginning on page 26 of this issue of GO .
Here you also can read about Westinghouse Electric’s impressive corporate university, and about another side of Nissan: its innovative approach to developing its far-flung leadership talent. You’ll also get a new perspective on innovation from Vijay
Govindarajan, see eye-opening new research showing how employees view their leaders, and get a sneak peak at Spark!
, a collection of inspiring stories from our clients.
All good stuff to consider as you strive to do good in your job each and every day.
Keep it up!
Rich Wellins
Sr. Vice President, DDI Rich Wellins talks about DDI’s involvement with CNBC’s Asia
Business Leaders Awards.
2
PUBLISHER
Richard S. Wellins, Ph.D.
MANAGING EDITOR
Craig Irons
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Susan Ryan
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Rachel Moody
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Elizabeth Speed Kabus
Editorial and Circulation:
GO c/o Development Dimensions Intl.
1225 Washington Pike
Bridgeville, PA 15017-2838
Telephone: 412-257-0600 go@ddiworld.com
ABOUT DDI
For over 40 years, DDI has helped the most successful companies around the world close the gap between where their businesses need to go and the talent required to take them there.
Our areas of expertise span every level, from individual contributors to the executive suite:
- Success Profile Management
- Selection & Assessment
- Leadership & Workforce Development
- Succession Management
- Performance Management
DDI’s comprehensive, yet practical approach to talent management starts by ensuring a close connection of our solutions to your business strategies, and ends only when we produce the results you require.
You’ll find that DDI is an essential partner wherever you are on your journey to building extraordinary talent.
© Development Dimensions International, Inc.
MMXII. All rights reserved.

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:20 PM Page 3
4
20
26
13
24
10
GO VOLUME 9 • NUMBER 1
F E A T U R E S
4
The Power of Development
Westinghouse Electric Company built an award-winning corporate university to keep its people at the forefront of the nuclear power industry.
10
Are Leaders Lacking? Employees Think So!
A new global DDI study of employees reveals that many leaders lack essential skills.
13
Bully-proofing the Workplace
The best way to deal with bullies is to not hire them in the first place. Here’s how.
18
Sparking Change, Touching Lives
Our new book celebrates how the science behind DDI transforms lives in and out of the workplace.
20
Driving Connections
Nissan has employed DDI’s Virtual Classroom technology to develop—and connect—high-potential leaders in important global markets.
26
Celebrating the Best!
CNBC’s Asia Business Leaders Awards have been recognizing the top leaders in Asia for 10 years.
D E P A R T M E N T S
9
Perspective
DDI’s Evan Sinar shares job performance data research confirming that Millennials are ready to lead.
15
Trend Tracker
A new DDI study explores the connection between leaders and innovation.
16
What’s GOing On
Improved pre-employment tests are on the way, and
DDI’s awards shelf fills up.
24
Coffee on the GO
Best-selling author Vijay Govindarajan predicts the next big innovation will come from an emerging market.
3 © Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:20 PM Page 4
© Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.
4

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:20 PM Page 5
has drawn the line of a graph on a white board in a conference room at
Westinghouse Electric Company’s global headquarters just north of Pittsburgh. It starts short and flat on the left before giving way to a long, steep, upward slope. It looks like a hockey stick.
Five years ago, he explains, this was the shape of the age distribution of talent in the nuclear power industry.
“If you looked at our employee population, a very significant segment of our employees were near the end of their careers.” This presented a significant business challenge, says Ice,
Westinghouse’s director of talent management, because “we are currently experiencing a resurgence of nuclear power to support the growing need for power across the globe.”
Nuclear power is again a growing industry. It produces a lower carbon footprint than coal and natural gas, and is a more reliable source for providing baseload electricity than other renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind. And, Westinghouse is in a leading position. New plants, drawing on Westinghouse technology, are planned or being explored in several countries around the world. Of the more than two dozen nuclear reactors under construction in China, four are the revolutionary Generation III+ Westinghouse-designed AP1000 reactor. Also, earlier this year the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the construction of four AP1000 reactors for plants in Georgia and South Carolina, the first new reactor construction approved in the U.S. since 1978.
The growing demand for power is only part of the story. Westinghouse, as the technology leader of the nuclear industry, is maintaining this position by aggressively focusing on flattening out the hockey stick, so to speak, by bringing new talent into the organization and changing the demographic make-up of its workforce. Maybe even more important is the approach Ice and his team have taken to developing that talent: building and implementing an award-winning corporate university that’s tightly linked with Westinghouse’s overall business strategy.
Jim Ice and his team designed the university to meet
Westinghouse’s business strategy.
5 © Development Dimensions International, Inc.

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:21 PM Page 6
A DIFFERENT APPROACH
TO TALENT MANAGEMENT
From its founding in 1886, Westinghouse produced everything from kitchen appliances, to locomotives, jet engines, elevators, and light bulbs, and along the way the company built a reputation for innovation.
From 2008 to 2011, Westinghouse hired 5,000 people around the world, culling the best candidates from among the more than 40,000 résumés it receives annually. It also ramped up campus recruiting and hosted more than 200 interns annually.
The hires increased Westinghouse’s headcount to just over 13,000 employees, while also providing an influx of
“We looked at both the hiring demand and the need to train people across very different businesses.” as three separate companies instead of as one unified Westinghouse.
“When we looked at both the hiring demand and the need to train people across very different businesses—that had created their own ways of doing things—we made a conscious choice to break down those artificial barriers.
That’s when our corporate university, as a concept, was born.”
Today, nuclear power is Westinghouse’s sole focus: designing, servicing, and manufacturing fuel for operating plants across the globe. But the company’s innovation legacy shines on.
The AP1000 reactor is an excellent example. Designed with passive safety systems that rely on natural forces— gravity, natural circulation, and convection—to cool the reactor without the need for external sources of power, the AP1000 nuclear plant design is safer than existing nuclear power plants. This is a welcome advancement in reactor safety, especially in the wake of events at the Fukushima plant following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March 2011.
While this leading technology positioned Westinghouse to dominate the market, it needed the right talent—and adopted an aggressive talent acquisition management strategy to get it.
“We were lucky in that Tony Greco, our senior vice president of human resources and corporate relations, had a vision for what we needed to do in terms of both hiring and developing our employees to meet the business demands,” says Ice. “As a result, we were able to get a head start on addressing these needs four to five years ago, ahead of most companies and competitors in the industry.”
SUBSTANTIAL AND
SOPHISTICATED
Westinghouse’s university is both substantial in its offerings and sophisticated in its design. Its formation started with careful planning that included researching best practices and benchmarking other corporate universities. young, talented, and motivated workers. To get the new hires up to speed and contributing at a high level, however, they needed development.
“You’ve got all these new employees, most of which are new to our industry,” says Ice. “And this is an industry that requires you to understand safety, quality, and human performance principles, meaning how to reduce errors.”
In addition to industry and technical knowledge, Ice points out that those experienced individuals hired into leadership positions also needed targeted development to grow into their roles. And he also says that during the years when the company wasn’t in growth mode, the organization’s three business units—nuclear plant design, service, and fuel manufacturing— became segregated, tending to operate
But rather than copy what worked elsewhere, Ice and his team designed the university to meet Westinghouse’s business strategy. Additionally, they developed a leadership model based on the unique leadership challenges within Westinghouse. The model includes four leadership levels, and targets the unique types of organizational leaders (technical, project, manufacturing, business) and main capability areas (interpersonal, leadership, management, functional) required for role success. Each level has a unique strategy for assessment and a guide for capability development.
At the outset, Westinghouse identified objectives for the university in multiple areas: leadership development, business impact, delivery excellence, learning technology, reinforcing a common culture, targeted curriculum development, managing the return on the training investment, and developing qualified talent.
© Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.
6

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:21 PM Page 7
Further influencing the university’s design, Westinghouse moved to a corporate-center design for its HR functions, including both talent acquisition and development.
“We brought together training leaders from across the organization, and they designed the university with the intent of breaking down the silos between the individual businesses,” says Ice. “This makes sense when you consider that many of the defined education and training needs revolved around similar learning objectives across all employees, regardless of their business unit.”
In addition, the university includes a team of learning consultants that have their fingers on the pulse of the business and the organization’s development needs.
“Our learning consultants are out there helping the business leaders determine the learning strategies that need to be in place and how the university can help provide the right
An employee can create a custom development plan
This realization helped inform the creation of seven distinct colleges within the university: Project Management, leveraging content across seven colleges.
Technical, Leadership, Business,
Behavioral (i.e., human performance and continuous improvement), Manufacturing, and Commercial (i.e., content for customers/suppliers). design and development services,” says Mike Naughton, manager of
Westinghouse’s university operations.
“The idea is that an employee, in con-
The real meat of the university is its sultation with his or her manager, can create a custom development plan broad array of assessment and development resources, many of which leveraging content across these seven colleges based on that employee’s specific role and performance expectations,” says Ice. He also points out that the university helps the organization improve training efficiency,
(see page 8). The university also draws on DDI’s Interaction Management ® eliminate redundancies, and realize ment tool and Manager Ready ® , an online frontline leader assessment system to develop leaders. cost savings. come from DDI, including the
Leadership Mirror ® multirater assess-
Curt Lawhead, manager, organiza-
Each college has a dean—a subject matter expert from the business to help define, structure, and deliver the tional development, and dean of the university’s Leadership College, says curriculum—so that learners get the that Westinghouse believes strongly in the strategic importance of connecttraining they need when they need it.
Associate deans may support specific ing assessment and development. content areas within each college.
“There’s a direct correlation between assessment and development at all three levels because, from a developmental perspective, we can make sure we’re hitting the mark based on what the specific identified needs are.
For instance, at the business level where we use an assessment like
Leadership Mirror, we have also created a talent audit process—surveying the workforce to find out the skills or knowledge areas that people already have, to assess how they map against current and future needs and workforce plans.”
Another defining characteristic of
Westinghouse’s university is the combination of approaches and modalities employed to deliver high-quality, impactful learning.
“For one course, we might have a web-based-training pre-work that goes out to give participants a primer on the course content,” explains Mike
Corrigan, team lead for the design services group within the university.
“Then there might be a two-hour live or recorded webinar where the facilitator walks through the content at greater depth. Then the third component of this development program might be a one-hour online Q&A session during which the facilitator is live on the phone to answer questions and provide feedback. It’s an opportunity to leverage all these technologies to their fullest potential.”
7 © Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:54 PM Page 8
the assessment tools Westinghouse Electric Company relies on to guide the development of its people is DDI’s Manager Ready ® , an online frontline leader assessment designed to deliver the same quality of diagnosis and benefits as a full-blown assessment center at a fraction of the cost. Manager Ready uses more than 30 realistic behavioral situations to assess frontline leaders and leadership candidates against the competencies most needed for role success. Highly skilled DDI assessors evaluate the quality of participant responses against specific behavioral anchors and provide in-depth insight and feedback reports. Manager
Ready was named the 2011 Human Resource Executive ® Top HR Product of the Year.
Westinghouse has used Manager Ready to target the development of leaders in both the U.S. and China, and plans to use it for leaders in additional countries, as well.
“Manager Ready is a very effective means of assessing the management team, and we are excited about the opportunity to assess our leadership talent remotely,” says Christof Paulischta.
“The feedback has been great. It’s a very rigorous assessment,” says Curt Lawhead. “It meets our needs because we were looking for something that we could do quickly and easily, and that matched our leadership capabilities.”
Lawhead also observes that the situations used in Manager Ready give individuals a realistic preview of what’s required to be an effective manager. “In many respects, they come out of the assessment thinking that they have a lot to learn. In reality, new leaders often do have a lot to learn.”
“I CAN’T WAIT TO GET
MORE DEVELOPMENT”
All of the hard work that went into visioning, planning, and launching
Westinghouse’s university has paid off in direct business impact of integrated development offerings, reduced overall spending, and coordinated development of employees and leaders. The training and development community has noticed. The Corporate University
Xchange honored Westinghouse with the Alliances Award for how it has aligned the university with the overall objectives of the business and leadership development programming. The university was awarded the 2011
Corporate University Best-in-Class award runner-up in the “Best New
Corporate University” category. And earlier this year Westinghouse was named a Top Learning Organization and featured in Elearning!
magazine.
“When Westinghouse decided to implement the university in 2010, we began with best practices,” says
Christof Paulischta, a Paris-based learning and development manager for
Europe, Middle East, and Africa. “So, our goal is to build a state-of-the-art corporate university designed to meet the unique need of our business and, quite frankly speaking, we’ve got a great start.”
Paulischta says that while the outside accolades are nice, what has most impressed him is the reaction from Westinghouse employees. “The employees are excited about this wonderful opportunity to learn and develop and to grow. When we started to roll out the university it amazed me how individuals said, ‘I can’t wait to get more development.’”
Read more about Westinghouse Electric’s university and learn about Manager Ready.
Curt Lawhead serves as dean of the university’s Leadership College.
In his design services role, Mike Corrigan strives to leverage technology to its fullest potential.
© Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.
8

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:21 PM Page 9
PERSPECTIVE
Research by Evan Sinar, Ph.D.
Generation Y is growing up, and as the oldest of them approach their 30s, many are in line for (or already holding) supervisory and management positions. But is this group well-equipped to assume leadership roles? Or are the images of helicopter parents and their entitled children true depictions—leaving organizations with an acute shortage of talent that’s ready to be called “boss?” We examined that question with a look into our performance data.
So, this set of data indicates that Millennials are, in fact, a viable talent pool for your open leadership positions.
Of course each individual within a population will have different strengths and different reasons why they’ve developed a strength—but the general assumption that Millennials lack what it takes to develop and motivate others is not supported by our data.
Because the strengths of Millennial and Generation X leaders often complement each other, it’s beneficial for all involved to create opportunities for leaders of different ages to work together and learn from one another, such as on a project team or task force, or in a mentoring relationship.
To validate the DDI test you use, we collect extensive data about the job performance of leaders. It’s the result of a process where we ask existing employees to take the test, and compare their scores to managers’ evaluations of these same employees. When the results match up, we can validate the test. And, as an outcome of doing so much of this research, we accumulated recent and precise performance data on about 4,000 leaders from 23 organizations.
So, what happens if we look at leaders’ competency proficiencies and compare them by generation? The accompanying graph plots the collective leadership abilities related to eight common competencies for which we have robust data.
We looked at the first step up the management ladder—frontline leaders—in two generations: Millennials (born 1982-2000) and Generation X (1965-1981). A data point plotted closer to the center of the graph shows lower performance, while one plotted toward the outside shows higher performance.
As this graph illustrates:
•
The Millennial generation performs well when it comes to Adaptability and Customer Focus.
•
They show some relative weakness when it comes to ability-related competencies, such as Decision Making and
Planning and Organizing, and on the motivation-related competency of Work Standards.
•
Millennials and Generation Xers are very similar in key leadership and interpersonal skills, including Developing
Others, Gaining Commitment, and Communication.
In considering this generational data, it’s worth pointing out that an individual’s readiness to lead must be evaluated in the context of your specific role and specific business situation with well-defined competencies, knowledge, experience, and personal attributes.
How are leadership competencies changing over time?
Read our research and analysis.
Evan Sinar, Ph.D., is a manager in
DDI’s assessment technology group.
9 © Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:21 PM Page 10
By Pete Weaver and Simon Mitchell
As organizations continue to adapt to the complexity and dynamic demands of the global economy, one aspect of the 21st century workplace remains unchanged: the necessity of strong boss/employee relationships.
To explore the current strength of these relationships, in 2011 we partnered with Harris
Interactive to survey 1,279 workers around the world to tell us about their everyday interactions with their leaders. The results of this survey are captured in our new study, Lessons for Leaders from the People Who Matter: How Employees
Around the World View Their Leaders.
On the following pages, we discuss some of the findings from this revealing study.
© Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.
10

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:21 PM Page 11
WORKERS AREN’T CONFIDENT IN THEIR
BOSSES’ SKILLS
One important intangible of the manager/employee relationship is the level of respect employees have for their leaders—the belief that their boss is a skilled leader worthy of respect and loyalty. Our survey revealed favorites—a practice that poisons morale, sabotages team effectiveness, and discourages those who aren’t the boss’ favorites from putting forth their best effort.
LEADERS ARE LACKING IN FUNDAMENTAL
LEADERSHIP SKILLS that this is an area where leaders not only fall short— they fall a long way short. One in three respondents
DDI has conducted research and worked with leading organizations around the world for more than 40 years,
(34 percent) said they don’t consider their manager to be effective at his or her job.
during which time we have developed a deep understanding of what makes leaders effective. We have found
By any definition, a competent leader must be able to motivate employees to give their best effort and do their best work. But again, more than one-third of employees say their leaders are deficient in this category, as well.
When asked if they feel motivated to give their best to their leader, 37 percent said only sometimes or never.
Predictably, this dim view of leader capability conthat one of the most important and defining traits of an effective leader, at any organizational level, is his or her consistent use of what we refer to as Interaction
Essentials SM . Interaction Essentials SM are those behaviors that enable a leader to address both the personal and practical needs of the individuals with whom he or she is interacting, whether it’s a formal discussion (e.g., a performance review), or an informal discussion such as tributes to turnover. Two out of every five employees a coaching situation. The Interaction Essentials that meet personal needs include those related to listening,
(39 percent) surveyed said they have left a job primarily because of their leader, while more than half (55 perempathy, and knowing how to best involve and support others. Practical needs, meanwhile, are met through the cent) said they have considered leaving a job because of their leader.
consistent use of an interaction process that makes sure that the tasks at hand are achieved with the maximum
WORKERS OFTEN FEEL HURT AND DEMOTIVATED
BY THEIR BOSSES’ ACTIONS efficiency.
Being a leader is a tough job that many do well. But on the other hand it seems a great many don’t. When asked if their leaders handle workplace conflict effectively,
We asked employees about leaders’ use of the
Interaction Essentials. Their responses (Figure 1) point to many of the deficiencies that leaders have in critical leadership skill areas.
42 percent of employees surveyed for our study responded either only sometimes or never. Similarly, 35 percent responded only sometimes or never when asked if their leaders
Figure 1: Leaders’ Use of Interaction Essentials
QUESTIONS
Most of the Time or Always
Only
Sometimes or Never listen to their work-related concerns. This is important, of course, because listening has to be the first step in addressing any problem.
1. Does your manager ask for your ideas about how to solve problems?
51% 49%
Additionally, according to the survey, 54 percent involve employees in making decisions that affect the employee’s own, or the employ-
2. Does your manager help you solve problems without solving them for you?
53% 47%
3. Does your manager give you sufficient feedback on your performance?
55% 45% ee’s team’s, work. Those decisions are made without much explanation, either: 43 percent of employees say that their bosses rarely, if ever, explain the rationale for their decisions.
4. In conversation, does your manager ask questions to ensure he/she understands what you are saying?
59% 41%
5. Does your manager adequately recognize your efforts/contributions?
60% 40% Also troubling is that so many bosses (34 percent) are cited for most of the time or always singling out certain employees as their
6. Does your manager handle work conversations efficiently?
64% 36%
11 © Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:21 PM Page 12
Consistent use of the Interaction Essentials is key to leader effectiveness. Given the very high proportion of employees feeling that their leader only sometimes or never uses these essentials, it is no wonder employees often feel that their leader is doing more harm than good.
Figure 3: The Impact of Leader Quality
100%
80%
98%
100%
80%
94%
These skills aren’t called essential for no reason.
Employees of leaders who focus on the Interaction
Essentials consider their leaders more effective, are more motivated, and are more likely to be productive.
60%
40%
60%
40%
20%
11%
20%
5%
“MY CURRENT BOSS JUST CAN’T COMPARE
WITH MY BEST-EVER BOSS”
We asked employees to compare their current boss with the individual they would identify as their best-ever leader. We asked a simple but powerful question:
“Thinking about the best manager you ever had, what did he/she do that made them the best?” Respondents consistently told us that what set their best-ever leader apart was a propensity for recognition and for providing the right degree of support without stepping in and taking over. They also said that their best-ever leader was adept at involving team members when making decisions (Figure 2).
Figure 2: What Leaders Do That Makes Them the Best
1 Recognized me appropriately
0%
I feel motivated to give my best to my manager
0%
My manager does a good job helping me be more productive
Employees of WORST managers* (bottom 20%)
Employees of BEST managers* (top 20%)
*Best/Worst managers based on employee perception.
The biggest gap in performance between employees’ current leaders and their best-ever leaders is in helping employees be more productive. Only 56 percent of employees reported that their current leader helps them be more productive, whereas 79 percent reported that their best-ever leader helped them be more productive.
✪
Lessons for
Leaders from the People Who Matter study. The study also discusses the implications of the findings and provides key take-aways for HR and OD professionals.
2 Supported me without taking over
Patterson S. (Pete) Weaver is DDI’s senior vice president of leadership solutions and chief learning officer.
Simon Mitchell is DDI’s European marketing director.
3 Involved me in decisions
4 Listened to me
WHY MOST EMPLOYEES DON’T WANT TO BE LEADERS
5 Took time to explain rationale for decisions
6 Took care to maintain my self-esteem
(top mentions in descending order)
While only about half (45 percent) of employees surveyed think they could be more effective than their boss, just 46 percent would actually want their boss’ job.
Perhaps not surprisingly, employees stated clearly they are not looking for their leader to be a friend:
“Took time to socialize with me” and “Asked about my hobbies and interests” came at the bottom of the list of behaviors that set best-ever leaders apart.
The survey results revealed significant gaps in performance between current and best-ever leaders (Figure 3).
The best leaders are consistent and demonstrate positive leadership behaviors and, as the research demonstrates, employees respond by being more motivated.
Among the reasons they cited:
• “Far too much stress. Being expected to produce more and more results with fewer and fewer resources (people, supplies, etc.).”
• “Some of my coworkers are hard to work with. I would not want to manage them.”
• “It involves many aspects of running this business that I am not interested in. I think his job would be terribly boring and, frankly, I find that quite off-putting.”
• “Not worth the stress.”
• “I don't want that much responsibility. I like my 8-5 job.”
© Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.
12

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:21 PM Page 13
BY SCOTT ERKER, PH.D. AND EVAN SINAR, PH.D.
Gossip.
Snide remarks in front of others.
An “in crowd” that excludes others.
Spreading untrue rumors.
These are classic bullying tactics that most of us have, unfortunately, experienced at some point in our adolescence, and the things that make many glad to have their high school years behind them. But what happens when these bullying tactics jump from the high school hallways to the cubicle maze? From lunchroom to boardroom? After all, bullies do get older— and not all “grow up.”
Workplace bullying is a very real, and often serious, problem. It is defined by the Workplace Bullying Institute as
“repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators that takes one or more of the following forms: verbal abuse, offensive conduct/behaviors (including non-verbal) which are threatening, humiliating, or intimidating, or work interference— sabotage—which prevents work from getting done.” A 2010 survey by the same organization found that 35 percent of adults experienced some form of bullying, and an additional 15 percent reported witnessing it happening to others, meaning that half of all employees have had personal exposure to these damaging events. bully, the employee may be reluctant to even raise the issue with HR for fear of retaliation or job loss. If the bully is a peer, it becomes a matter of one
For the targets of bullying, the effects of this stress can impact both their personal lives and their physical and mental health. Research done on hosemployee’s word against another’s and, even then, the behavior is subjective. Was it bullying or warranted constructive criticism? Good natured ribbing or mean-spirited degradation? pital workers in the U.K. revealed that nurses reporting to a supervisor who
For any organization that values its employee morale and wants to avoid becoming a workplace that workers lacked respect, fairness, or sensitivity had a 20 percent greater risk of heart disease than those reporting to a considerate and empathetic supervisor.
dread coming to each day, bullying is an issue that needs to be considered and addressed by leaders at all levels.
In fact, legislation has been proposed Another large-scale study found that bullying by supervisors or co-workers lowered job satisfaction, generated emotional exhaustion and depression, and led them to consider quitting.
While it’s difficult to estimate a dollar in more than a dozen U.S. states to address the phenomenon and increase accountability. Internationally, several countries, including Australia, have enacted laws that include jail time for bullies. amount of lost productivity because of bullying, as talent management
The most effective way to bully-proof your organization is to simply not hire professionals, we know unequivocally that the effects of low engagement, bullies. The more non-bullies in your company directory, the less likely bulturnover, and team dysfunction have a direct correlation to an organization’s lying behavior will be tolerated. But, of course, everyone is on their best bottom line.
One of the challenges of workplace behavior during the hiring process, and in real life, bullies just aren’t as bullying is that it can be subtle and difficult to prove. If the supervisor is the easy to spot as the cartoon variety, with menacing scowls and slingshots
13 © Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:22 PM Page 14 in their back pockets. Myopic hiring tools that look only at what someone has achieved but that ignore how they got there can even favor bullies whose success has come at others’ expense.
Armed with a good selection system and an understanding of what bullyprone attributes, experiences, and behaviors look like, we contend that you can, in fact, select out bullies.
If you use personality assessments, in which candidates report about their attitudes toward work and others, certain characteristics can be measured that generally identify people who will get along well with others, aren’t prone to bursts of anger, work well under stress, and care about co-workers.
JOB SIMULATIONS
There are two key strategies when using your selection system to flag bullies: identify characteristics that are predictive of bullying, and identify characteristics that are opposite of, or counter to, bullying behaviors. And, like with any selection situation, a multi-faceted approach using a mix of tools (pre-employment assessments, job simulations, and interviews) is most successful.
Job simulations can be especially effective at identifying productive work behaviors. Job candidates, however, are keenly aware of their actions and will be on their best behavior—they most likely aren’t going to berate the assessors or the role players (although, amazingly, we have seen it happen).
PRE-EMPLOYMENT ASSESSMENTS
Pre-employment assessments (or tests) can be an effective tool for collecting predictive information about bullying behaviors by looking for antibullying behavior, such as identifying evidence that the candidate enjoys building relationships and supporting coworkers and customers.
But you can present situations that provide a chance for the candidate to demonstrate counter-bullying behaviors, such as teamwork and relationship-building behaviors. For example, what do they do when a coworker or direct report makes a mistake that angers a customer? A non-bully-prone candidate will likely respond to the situation with behaviors illustrating empathy and understanding prior to jumping in to solve the problem.
INTERVIEWS
For situational judgment assessments, which assess a candidate’s approach to solving work-related problems, they can be scored to select those who choose alternatives more supportive of a collaborative environment.
The interview can also be tailored to assess bullying. We know that past behavior predicts future behavior, and a behavior-based interviewing system is therefore the most effective type of interview for predicting job success.
For the same reasons, it can also be an accurate predictor of bullying.
Questions such as “Tell me about a time when you had conflict with a team member. How did you resolve the situation?” are ways to bring to light bullying tendencies. A more positive spin would be to ask a question about a time or situation in which the candidate recognized that a co-worker needed help.
As with any other selection objective, selecting to avoid bullies is about risk reduction, and it’s impossible to reduce that risk to zero. But if you set the bar high on interpersonal skills and look across your selection data for illustrations of a candidate’s empathy, agreeableness, emotional stability, and relationship building skills, your selection system becomes a powerful tool in creating a more positive and productive work environment. lation solutions, as well as our Targeted
Selection ® behavioral interviewing system.
About the authors
Scott Erker, Ph.D., is DDI’s senior vice president of selection solutions.
Evan Sinar, Ph.D., is a manager in DDI’s assessment technology group.
© Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.
14

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:22 PM Page 15
TREND TRACKER
DDI partnered with LUMA Institute to identify four critical innovation challenges—Inspire Curiosity, Challenge Current Perspectives, Create
Freedom, and Drive Discipline—and 20 leader behaviors directly related to those challenges. To gauge the prevalence of these behaviors, we surveyed 513 leaders and 514 non-leader employees in the U.S. The complete findings are included in the study report,
Creating the Conditions for Sustainable Innovation: The Leadership
Imperative .
✪
The full report can be downloaded at www.ddiworld.com/GO.
Telling Number:
58
Percent of first-level leaders who agree that they engage in behaviors that encourage their people to Inspire
Curiosity. By comparison, 71 percent of senior-level leaders agree that they themselves engage in these behaviors.
Source: Creating the Conditions for
Sustainable Innovation: The Leadership
Imperative
On every set of leader behaviors linked to the innovation challenges, leaders reported agreement ratings considerably higher than employees rated their own leaders. The leader-employee gap in agreement ranged from a massive
29 percent for behaviors reflecting
Challenge Current Perspectives and
Drive Discipline, to a still troublingly high
23 percent for behaviors associated with
Inspire Curiosity.
Leaders % Agree Employees % Agree
40%
30%
20%
10%
80%
70%
60%
50%
64%
41%
71%
42%
69%
41%
69%
40%
0%
Inspire Curiosity Challenge Current
Perspectives
Create Freedom Drive Discipline
AGREEMENT RATINGS OF LEADERS AND EMPLOYEES BY INNOVATION CHALLENGE
We asked all respondents to rate their organization’s commitment to innovation, ranging from “Very Strong” to “Very Weak.”
We then compared these answers with the ratings of leaders’ innovation-related behaviors by the leaders themselves and by employees.
Predictably, when organizational commitment to innovation is high, leaders give themselves high ratings—and employees rate leaders highly, as well.
Leaders % Agree Employees % Agree
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Very Weak Weak Mixed Strong Very Strong
ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT TO INNOVATION AND PREVALENCE
OF LEADER INNOVATION-RELATED BEHAVIORS
15
© Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:22 PM Page 16
GO
DDI has been named a Top 20 Leadership Training Company by TrainingIndustry.com. The “Top 20” list includes those leaders in the training industry that demonstrate experience and excellence in providing leadership training services to a variety of clients. Selection of the Top
20 Leadership Training Companies was based on multiple criteria, including thought leadership and influence on the leadership training industry, industry recognition and innovation, breadth of programs and audiences served, and delivery methods offered.
DDI was named the recipient of Taleo’s 2012 Partner of the Year award, in recognition of DDI and Taleo’s lengthy history of collaboration. This award acknowledges the degree to which our clients count on us for seamless and easy integration with their Taleo systems.
DDI and Taleo have worked together since 2003, pairing technology and content to offer the best products available from two industry leaders renowned for their best practices solutions. “Taleo and DDI are the best kind of partners—we each have our own strengths that support each other’s mutual goal of building extraordinary talent,” says Bruce Marks, director of global strategic partnerships for DDI.
Each year more than 1 million DDI assessments are delivered through Taleo
Passport integrations.
Additionally, DDI provides its industry-leading competency library to Taleo. The
DDI competencies work across the Taleo platform, including the recruiting, performance, learning, and succession modules. They form a foundation on which to build a solid talent management solution for companies around the world.
✪
✪
✪
✪
WWW.
TWITTER .COM/ DDIWORLD
© Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.
16

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:23 PM Page 17
DDI China recently earned the “Top Recommended Training Company Award
2011” from the HR Association, and was also recognized as a top training supplier in China by Universal Ideas, a training directory publisher.
DDI’s Virtual Classroom technology was announced as a silver winner of Chief
Learning Officer’s Learning in Practice Award for Excellence in E-learning. This award is presented to a provider that has recently rolled out an innovative and effective e-learning program for a client. We were recognized for helping
Nissan train 60 high-potential leaders from various business functions in more than 25 countries with no travel budget. Thanks, Nissan, for making Virtual
Classroom the next best thing to being there. Check out the story on our work with Nissan on page 20.
GO
GO won a prestigious “Gold”
Hermes Creative Award from the Association of Marketing and
Communication Professionals
(AMCP). Judges reviewed 4,700 entries from throughout the world.
Less than 20 percent were awarded the “Gold” ranking, which, according to the industry-expert AMCP judges, is deemed to “exceed the high standards of the industry norm.”
Looking to reduce early turnover and improve the quality of your new hires and promotions? Getting the right people into the right positions has tremendous impact on the success of an organization, and adding tests to your selection system is one of the most efficient ways to improve new-hire performance. Tests increase hiring efficiency by getting the best candidates in front of hiring managers faster.
We’re proud to announce the release of our new approach to pre-employment assessment, coming in late 2012.
Built with the candidate in mind, DDI’s tests feature improved new content. Each test question previews for the candidate important job information and creates an engaging assessment experience—all while providing a realistic preview of an applicant’s performance. Plus, our tests are hosted by a new technology engine designed for flexibility and easy customization, enabling you to maintain your employment brand throughout the selection process.
✪
See information on our new assessment solutions.
17
© Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:23 PM Page 18
Bob Rogers , DDI’s president, often tells of an encounter he Now
back at my childhood and life, I always had at a client golf outing more than three decades ago. loved to see others develop and work out problems for
A man approached him at the first tee and, upon learning that themselves. Now I have a job that allows me to be me
Bob was with DDI, gave him a hug and said, “DDI saved and help to inspire development in others. I found my my life.” calling and DDI was the one to show me it was possible.
That story, which Bob shares in its entirety, leads off his introduction to SPARK!
a just-published collection of true stories
DECLAN BRANIGAN, TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
MANAGER, AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS gathered from our clients and associates. The stories all share one thing in common: They tell of individuals who transformed their work and personal lives in a meaningful way by using skills taught by DDI.
DDI
one of my first-line managers through the workshop Coaching for Improvement. The first-line manager had a direct report who was very resistant to advice or suggestions for improvement. After attending
Here’s a sneak peak at some of the transformational stories included in SPARK!
the training, the first-line manager implemented the
Discussion Planner in his team. By using the planner in a couple of coaching sessions, the direct report’s mindset totally changed. He showed tremendous improvement in his attitude and sales, and he is helping his manager in supporting other coworkers. Thanks to DDI for changing the lives of both associates.
A CLIENT FROM A PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY
KARACHI, PAKISTAN
© Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.
18

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:23 PM Page 19
long days and late nights learning about and presenting DDI programs. I was dead tired after a stressful and grueling week, sitting on the plane returning home when it struck me—I could use the Key Principles to improve my relationships and interactions at work and at home. It was literally a life-changing revelation. I continue to this day to do my best to model these Key
Principles. I’m not guaranteeing that you will have the same life-changing experience. I can tell you that every time I get into trouble with my wife, I look back and say to myself, “If only I had been more empathetic, or I should have asked her for ideas, why didn’t I do a better job of maintaining her self-esteem, etc.”
RICK BLACKSTONE, SPHR, MS,
EVENFLO COMPANY, INC., DAYTON, OHIO, USA
to facilitate a course on building commitment for a group of directors and physicians at a health care system I worked for before I began my career at DDI.
One of the physicians was not only someone I knew, but also someone I knew didn’t want to be in the session.
He pushed back throughout the session by not using the skills, tools and, most especially, the Discussion
Planner with his patients. Two weeks after the training I received an e-mail from the physician, saying:
“I just wanted to write to let you know of something that occurred after the class I participated in. I have a
15-year-old son who has numerous behavior problems that we have not been able to deal with. We were getting ready to create an intervention for him to save him from his destructive tendencies. The night I came home from your class, my wife and I were discussing the steps in the intervention with heavy hearts.
“As I opened my briefcase, the form [Discussion
Planner] we practiced lay on top. I pulled it out and completed each section as if I were talking to him. I focused on listening first and asking him how he felt. I recognized that I did not do that well in the past. I went to my son’s room and started the dialogue. In the past two weeks, there have been more conversations than have occurred in our entire relationship. I know I was a difficult student, but I wanted you to know that his behavior has turned around 100 percent. I have a new son, and there will be no intervention. I do believe that this can work.”
The physician told me that he would not use the
Discussion Planner with his patients, but I have heard him on many occasions use Key Principles when communicating with patients and family members.
DIANA POWELL, DDI
KENTUCKY, USA
SPARK!
also includes numerous stories from people who used skills and concepts learned in DDI programs to make a difference in their communities, in settings such as churches, non-profits, a youth camp, and a write-in campaign for school board, among others.
Do you have a great story to tell about how
DDI training changed your life or other’s lives?
We encourage you to share it so we can consider it for inclusion in a future edition of
SPARK! or on our web site. Share your story at www.ddiworld.com/SPARK.
✪
19 © Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:23 PM Page 20
GO TO WORK
S hahnawaz Mehdi and Nadia Trimmel are rising operational leaders within Nissan: Mehdi is an IT and logistics manager, while Trimmel is a senior product manager for commercial vehicles. Both were participants in
Nissan’s Global Organizational Leadership Development
(GOLD) program for high-potential leaders, which imparted critical leadership skills, such as coaching, conducting effective conversations, and managing performance.
What’s especially intriguing about Mehdi and Trimmel aren’t these similarities. It’s this: Mehdi lives and works in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Trimmel nearly 4,000 miles away in Pretoria, South Africa. And while both are among the 60 leaders from around the world who have participated in the GOLD program, they did so without ever leaving their home countries.
Many organizations turn to e-learning to save time and money; however, the GOLD program is a fully interactive leadership development curriculum that combines e-learning with DDI’s Virtual Classroom technology to deliver courses that are led remotely by a live facilitator.
It’s an innovation that makes it possible for Nissan to do what was only a dream a few years ago: bring together a geographically dispersed population of leaders, provide an effective leadership development program, and give them opportunities to interact with each other in real time—with no travel costs.
© Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.
20

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:23 PM Page 21
A NEED TEMPERED BY A LIMITED BUDGET “All our budgets for travel were frozen and we needed to
One of the world’s largest car companies, Nissan has do something,” Padilha recalls. “So, we started looking for alternatives to develop our talent.”
31 production facilities in 16 countries and sales in 160 countries. To grow further, Nissan is targeting emerging global markets, where it needs to have strong leaders.
It has identified 60 high-potential operational leaders who could, with some development, move into demanding higher-level leadership roles in the future. These leaders are based in more than 25 countries covering a broad range of regions, including Latin America, Europe,
OPTIMAL TRAINING EFFICIENCY
Padilha and her team engaged DDI to help design the
GOLD program. It was built around a curriculum of courses from DDI’s award-winning Interaction
Management ® : Exceptional Leaders . . . Extraordinary
Results ® leadership development system. These courses would provide the skills Nissan’s high-potential leaders
Africa, Asia, and Australia.
Though their levels, locations, and functions are diverse, as a group they require a uniform set of leadership skills that are consistent with Nissan’s vision, values, and culture, and which support Nissan’s global business. needed to be optimally effective and establish a common leadership language across locations.
Three of the courses, Setting Performance
Expectations, Reviewing Performance
Progress, and Developing Others, were tabbed to be delivered as web-based
The talent champion behind the GOLD
program was Darci Padilha, who was
Nissan’s Africa, Middle East, and India
Regional HR manager before departing the company earlier this year, and who started work on designing courses supported by virtual practice labs, where participants engage in interactive activities with their peers and receive facilitator guidance and coaching, along with valuable peer feedback on their skills. The other four courses, which included Essentials of Leadership, the program in 2010 from Nissan Headquarters in Japan.
She says Nissan recognized the importance of developing the high-potential leader population.
Leading Change, Reaching Agreement, and Motivating
Others, were slated to be delivered in real-time using
DDI’s Virtual Classroom technology.
“We needed a program to help all of the leaders be at the same level of expertise,” she says. “We also wanted to be able to take them to the next level of leadership through a program where we could bring them together and help them create connections.”
DDI’s innovative Virtual Classroom is a synchronous learning environment designed to mirror the live presentation and participant interaction of an actual classroom.
Participants connect from their location via a web-conferencing platform, and experience the course as it is facilitated in real time by a DDI facilitator.
But, she says, because the leaders were tucked away in all corners of the globe, it was logistically challenging, prohibitively expensive, and time-consuming to bring everyone together for training.
She also points out that a robust leadership development curriculum would require them to gather for multiple sessions, with time built in between the sessions for them to practice, apply, and hone their new skills through on-the-job application.
During the course, they can ask and respond to questions, just as in a live classroom. They also can interact using feedback tools, such as virtual white boards, annotation tools, and online polling questions. The Virtual
Classroom platform even enables the facilitator to partition participants into small groups to complete team exercises, and engage in role plays.
21 © Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:23 PM Page 22
Best of all is that the Virtual Classroom is designed to drive behavior change, just as effectively as a traditional classroom course or a self-paced web-based course. DDI research shows that courses delivered through the Virtual
Classroom are equally effective at changing behavior.
conversations—with their co-participants that they had never actually met—in the time they were waiting for the course sessions to begin.
Another important component built into the GOLD program was DDI’s Leadership Mirror ® multirater feedback tool. Participants were able to use this tool prior to going through the courses to identify their own individual strengths and development opportunities. This helped them target the specific skills imparted in the courses that they most needed to develop.
“While e-learning is common in Nissan, I can tell you that the virtual classroom approach that we applied in the
GOLD program was viewed as especially exciting and interesting,” says Padilha.
Mehdi felt that the virtual classroom captured many of the advantages of a live course. “Most of the time we did not feel the distance between the teacher and the learners. It felt like all of us were sitting in the same classroom. That was helpful. You are able to measure yourself immediately in terms of where you stand.”
“EXCITING AND INTERESTING”
The 60 high-potential leaders were divided into three cohort groups of 20 that met virtually eight times, about once a month, in 2011. Prior to the first session, the participants completed a 30-minute orientation session on the Virtual Classroom platform.
“You could interact in real time even though you were in different countries,” says Trimmel. “You could see what others were putting on the board. You had the functionality of working with a group of three, four, five people at time. You also could learn about their roles in the different countries.”
The 20 leaders who made up the first cohort group hailed from 10 different countries and none of them had ever met one another. Each leader was asked to introduce himself or herself to the cohort group, and also provide a photo that was uploaded to the virtual classroom platform so that participants could associate a face with a name and a voice during the course sessions.
RESULTS COMPARABLE TO THE CLASSROOM
Nissan worked with DDI to measure the program’s effectiveness at changing leader behavior in targeted skill areas such as listening, providing feedback, and having effective conversations. These results were compared with the average measured behavior change realized from classroom delivery of DDI leadership courses.
Even though the courses were delivered virtually, the relationship-building proved real, as participants began interacting and networking with one another.
“We had people from Australia who started the modules at
8 p.m. their time and finished at midnight. I was really concerned for how to keep them motivated using remote technology for four hours, when they were starting that late,” recalls Padilha. “But because it was really dynamic, the technology allowed for lots of interactions, and the facilitator really pushed everyone to participate.”
Padilha says that participants developed such a high level of comfort with the virtual classroom experience and with each other that they would even engage in off-topic
After the training, there was a 31-point improvement in the percentage of participants who said they displayed the targeted leadership behaviors (from 54 to 85 percent). This was almost equal to the 32-percentage-point improvement that had been realized in the average classroom delivery.
Observer ratings showed an even more dramatic difference. Observers said the percentage of leaders displaying the targeted behaviors jumped by 30 percentage points
(from 57 to 87 percent) after the Virtual Classroom training. This was much higher than the 17 percentage-point average gain in observer ratings for leaders who completed the courses in a traditional classroom setting.
© Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.
22

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:23 PM Page 23
The impact of the training goes beyond the numbers,
Padilha insists.
“When we talked with the leaders in person, we received good feedback. The participants were motivated because
Nissan was investing in them and they could apply what they learned to both their jobs and their lives.”
Mehdi says that the courses had a definite impact on how he does his job. “The training has helped me when meeting with my subordinates who are having some difficulty,” he says. “I get specific feedback from my subordinates and they say they like my management style and they are comfortable working with me.”
Trimmel says that what she found most valuable was how the GOLD program reinforced the importance of interacting effectively with and working through others.
“It’s the people around you who make it possible to achieve goals. They actually give you the results that you want.”
Looking back on the effectiveness of the GOLD program,
Padilha is understandably proud of the results.
“From my point of view, I would say that this program was nearly perfect, as it addressed all of our goals we had set initially for our talent in the growing regions.”
✪
To learn more about Virtual Classroom, Interaction Management ® :
Exceptional Leaders . . . Extraordinary Results ® , and Leadership
Mirror ® .
When asked about advice to others considering implementing an initiative such as Nissan’s GOLD program, Darci
Padilha offers the following:
1. GOOD COMMUNICATION.
And good software. “We worked with the individual IT departments to confirm everyone could access the Virtual
Classroom courses and troubleshoot issues in advance. Then we went the extra mile to orient participants and make sure they were comfortable with using the technology. That made a big difference.”
2. CREATE WARMTH.
To make the virtual training environment more friendly and personable, participants submitted photographs of themselves for display on-screen during the course sessions. Padilha also says that participants were encouraged to interact with one another, both during and outside of the course sessions. “We sought to create a warm environment where people would feel connected and not a cold environment where they would just feel like they were sitting in their office alone with their computer.”
3. DON’T FEAR THE NEW.
“Don’t be afraid to test things. The organization’s culture will determine whether or not you will be successful. But people should be encouraged to at least try the new approach and then they can form their own opinions about the technology.”
23 © Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:23 PM Page 24
GO
Vijay Govindarajan is a Dartmouth College business professor, acclaimed author, and former “chief innovation consultant” at GE.
He’s made news over the past few years as one of the central figures in a movement to come up with design ideas for a $300 house for impoverished countries. The goal is to design, build, and deploy a simple dwelling that keeps a family safe from the weather, allows them to sleep at night, and gives them a bit of dignity. The $300 house project is a social strategy, but organizations are looking at creating new products for developing countries as business strategies. And it’s out of that mindset that
Govindarajan is turning his focus to innovating innovation—but this time, doing it in reverse.
Whereas many organizations look for the next big product idea to come from—and to serve—the most developed economies,
Govindarajan thinks the markets with the most promise are in developing ones. As he points out, the products designed for the
“poor world” are a promising profit center, and even marketable in the richer ones. He calls this concept “reverse innovation,” and it’s both the topic and the title of his newest book.
To be successful at reverse innovation: “The whole game is HR,”
Govindarajan says. Attracting, developing, and retaining talent in emerging markets is the most critical factor to driving innovation there. Reverse Innovation is packed with examples of companies such as Logitech, P&G, GE, PepsiCo and Deere &
Company that have done it well. In this interview with GO , he offers additional insights into how HR can support these efforts and be catalysts of reverse innovation.
GO: What is reverse innovation?
Govindarajan: Historically, multinationals innovated in rich countries and tried to sell those same products in poor countries.
Reverse innovation is doing exactly the opposite. An example I give in my book is Deere & Company. They originally tried to sell their American tractors to Indian farmers. It wasn’t until they used a locally based team to design a smaller, cheaper tractor that served more purposes that they had success in India. And
© Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.
24

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:23 PM Page 25
COFFEE ON THE GO the tractor that they designed for that market is the basis of new product lines for China and other markets.
GO: Tell us more about HR’s role.
Govindarajan: To support this kind of innovation, it’s about building the organizational capability through talent. And that’s up to HR professionals. Building
R&D capability, marketing capability, supply chain capability, and others in poor countries is going to be the single biggest HR challenge going forward.
And in countries like India and China, it’s a paradox because there is scarcity amongst plenty. For example, even though there are a lot of engineers who are graduating in India and China, the top engineers are the same engineers everybody wants. The scarcity is even more acute at the management level and leadership level if you want to recruit somebody who’s got 10 to 15 years’ experience. There is a tremendous war for talent and winning the war is the key to success in reverse innovation—and it’s the complete responsibility of HR people. And therefore, a company’s human resource function has to be at the cutting edge.
GO: What are some of the other considerations for HR to address to help drive innovation in developing countries?
Govindarajan: In the U.S., it takes about four months to place all of our
MBA students from top schools like
Harvard and Wharton in jobs. In India, it takes just four hours to place all their top graduates. You can’t do multiple interviews; you have to make your decision very fast. And consider this:
Infosys in India recruits 40,000 software engineers every year: 40,000! Imagine how you develop this huge group! people—typically a senior vice president. That person has to be able to
The recruits in India have tremendous technical talent, but they lack what I call “the last mile.” They don’t have good interpersonal, problem-solving, or resolve conflict because no matter who you put in charge of an LGT or a global business unit, you’re going to have conflicts. So, conflict resolution is a critical critical-thinking skills, so you have to have your own corporate university to develop these skills.
GO: You propose the creation of local growth teams (LGTs) to drive reverse innovation. These are cross-functional, entrepreneurial units located in the targeted emerging market. How can HR support this approach?
requirement for the leader at the top.
GO: In your book you talk about the value of technical experts: either local people who provide a unique view of the market’s specific needs, or traveling experts who bring the expertise needed to help a local team solve the problem. Do you think there’s a missed opportunity to focus on high potential experts?
Govindarajan: HR needs to step up and be keepers of the talent. The LGT
Govindarajan: Absolutely. They are prime candidates for expat assignis nothing more than building teams in poor countries. So it’s all about HR. The ments to drive reverse innovation.
When we move the technical people, whole game is HR! they take their knowledge and capability with them. It also builds a sense
GO: What are some of the key skills necessary for an LGT team member?
of humility because the technical expert/expat begins to understand and
Govindarajan: Actually, HR people can play a role in picking leaders for three build a global mindset. I always say, move them to countries that are as roles related to LGTs. Number one is the leader of the LGT. They have to be disconnected as possible. I don’t mean physical distance; I mean cultural, picked carefully because the leader of the LGT should not be just technically economic, linguistic, and linguistically diverse countries that are as distant competent, but also a humble person who can work in partnership with the from each other as possible so it really doubles up that global mindset, which is what is critical for reverse innovation.
global organization. The second is leaders of the global teams the LGTs will work with, such as a global business unit leader. These leaders typically
Vijay Govindarajan’s latest book,
Reverse Innovation , is available now at bookstores and through major online book retailers. command greater resources and are more extensively connected within an organization, but sometimes their interests can seem in conflict. So they also have to be someone who is willing to work with the LGT. And third is the leader who supervises both of these
View a video of Vijay
Govindarajan talking about reverse innovation.
25 © Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:24 PM Page 26
marked the 10th anniversary of CNBC’s Asia
Business Leaders Awards. The annual awards celebrate and recognize vision, excellence, and the spirit of achievement of business leaders across the Asia-Pacific region.
CNBC Asia Business Leaders Award
Carlos Ghosn, Chairman & CEO,
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
As CNBC’s Research Partner, DDI conducts in-depth, face-to-face interviews with CEOs shortlisted by The
University of Chicago Booth School of Business on a number of financial indicators. The interviews assess the CEOs’ leadership qualities based on criteria such as strategy formulation and execution, talent management, innovation, and sustainability. Each year, DDI interviews dozens of CEOs in China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand.
An exceptional example of the quality of executives found at the top of some of the leading organizations in Asia,
Carlos Ghosn has been lauded for his visionary and impactful leadership of
Nissan. He was named the 2011
CNBC Asia Business Leaders Award recipient “for inspiring growth for his company, while keeping in step with global trends.”
Two of the winners honored last November at the awards ceremony in Singapore include Carlos Ghosn, chairman and CEO of Nissan; and Dr. Pailin Chuchottaworn, president and CEO of PTT, who was nominated for the award in his role as president of IRPC PCL. Both men are a testament not only to the quality of the award winners, but also to the high level of leadership talent in the region.
At the time of Ghosn’s arrival in 1999, Nissan was a car company in trouble, facing numerous challenges: including a steep mountain of debt, shrinking market share, high costs, overcapacity, outdated models, and a declining brand. Through a series of successfully executed strategic plans, Ghosn led one of the most amazing turnarounds in the history of the global automotive industry.
© Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.
26

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:24 PM Page 27
Today, Nissan (which maintains a strategic global alliance with Renault, for which Ghosn also serves as chief executive) is operating from a position of strength and has ambitious growth plans, especially in emerging global markets.
In addition, under Ghosn, Nissan has become one of the world’s most environmentally conscious automakers, introducing the Nissan LEAF, the world’s first mass-market zero emission electric vehicle, and rolling out several environmentally friendly initiatives.
STRATEGY AND EXECUTION
Ghosn’s ability to drive successful execution can be attributed to his widely regarded reputation for setting high performance expectations and ensuring that they are achieved. Each strategic plan has clear lead/lag measures that are rolled down from the top of the organization, and he keeps his senior team focused on a small number of key metrics. Also, he stresses the importance of attaining buy-in on key strategies. He personally does
Nissan’s ability to look confidently to the future under Ghosn is on display in the
Nissan Power 88 business plan, which was announced in June 2011 and is intended to accelerate the company’s growth across new markets and segments. Through the Power
88 strategy Nissan is taking a leadership
Ideas do not just come from leaders at the top.
They come from employees at all levels.
position in innovation by introducing 66 new vehicles in six years covering 92 percent of all markets and segments, and more than 90 new, advanced technologies.
Nissan also will continue its emphasis on “sustainable mobility,” through the production and sales of zero-emission vehicles and low-emission technologies, and further promote “mobility for all” through the introduction of dedicated new cars and light commercial vehicles developed for entry-level segments and emerging markets. “Nissan
Power 88 is the roadmap for our company’s profitable growth,” Ghosn says.
“road shows” to talk to senior managers/ employees throughout Nissan’s global operations and leverages Nissan’s internal web site as an active communication vehicle.
“Strategic goals just don’t appear on day one,” Ghosn says. “Before they are ever announced, key internal leaders and other stakeholders are aware of and help craft many of the elements of the strategy. So, by the time the strategy is introduced, there is already considerable buy-in.”
INVOLVING ALL LEVELS
The introduction of 66 new vehicles over a six-year period under the Nissan Power 88 plan demonstrates the company’s ability to innovate. While Ghosn ultimately is the one responsible for driving innovation, he understands that the executive suite isn’t—and can’t be—the sole source of innovation.
“Ideas do not just come from leaders at the top. They come from employees at all levels.”
Perhaps the best example of Ghosn’s strong leadership came in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan in 2011. Under his direction, Nissan contributed to the recovery effort by providing emergency cash assistance, and also provided vehicles, supplies, and humanitarian aid. In addition, the company began efforts almost immediately to rebuild its damaged factories and
DEVELOPING STRONG TALENT
Under Ghosn, Nissan developed a competency model that serves as the basis for numerous HR systems, including recruiting, development, succession, and performance management. The organization also implemented leaderrestore them to full capacity within a month after the disaster—efforts that showed Nissan’s commitment to the community, its employees, and its customers. ship development programs for leaders at all levels, from executives down to frontline leaders, with what he calls
“a rich and active curriculum” combining basic leadership skills with the development required for success in each The information he shared with the Asia Business Leader
Award selection committee, as part of the awards process, helps to illuminate what makes this remarkable executive one of Asia’s—and the world’s—best.
employee’s organizational function (manufacturing, marketing, engineering, etc.) One such program, the Global
Organizational Leadership Development program, is featured
in “Driving Connections” on page 20.
27 © Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:24 PM Page 28
BLUE CITIZENSHIP
“More than a manufacturer of cars, we see ourselves first and foremost as a citizen of the earth,” says Ghosn. “We call this way of thinking ‘Blue Citizenship.’”
CNBC Asia Business Leaders
Award
Dr. Pailin Chuchottaworn,
President & CEO,
PTT
Nissan conducts a variety of activities under the Blue
Dr. Pailin Chuchottaworn understands
Citizenship banner, all tied to the company’s desire to prewhat it means to be a true talent serve “the blue Earth” and to be a corporate citizen that champion. He proved it as president coexists in harmony with the Earth and the people who of IRPC, Asia’s first integrated petroinhabit it. These activities, which are supported through chemical business, and he’s continthe Nissan Power 88 plan, range from actions on global ued to reinforce it since becoming issues such as the conservation of the environment; proacpresident and CEO of PTT, IRPC’s tively giving back to the communities where employees live parent company and the national and work, and where the company sells its products; proenergy company of Thailand. After moting diversity within Nissan as an intrinsic strength to meet the diverse needs of customers; making personal only demonstrated his deep commitment to talent but also mobility available to as many people as possible; and to people when Thailand was hit by devastating flooding. focusing on “real-world safety,” with a goal of significantly reducing accident fatality rates.
During his tenure at IRPC, Dr. Pailin led a dramatic turnaround, guided by a comprehensive and integrated strate-
Nissan’s response to the earthquake and tsunami crisis gy that he formulated along with IRPC’s senior executives.
was an excellent example of Blue Citizenship in action.
The strategy called for the restructuring of the organiza-
In addition to working quickly to bring its factories back tion’s business into four core areas and set in motion projonline, Ghosn says that the company made more than 100 ects aimed at increasing production efficiency, enhancing vehicles available to support recovery efforts, contributed asset utilization, developing environmentally friendly prod-
150 million yen to relief efforts and also matched employee ucts, and expanding production of high-profit products. donations—netting more than 450 million yen total. being named to the top spot at PTT in 2011, Dr. Pailin not
Dr. Pailin drove strategy execution with an eye toward
These efforts not only made Nissan a shining example of change management and a strong emphasis on innovawhat organizations can and should do when faced with a tion. But he also led with an especially strong focus on humanitarian crisis, but underscored why Ghosn is such an
IRPC’s talent. He put forth the vision that “every person admired business leader both in Asia and around the world.
has the potential to grow and rise to the highest possible position depending on his or her competency or intention,” made talent a major priority in discussions among the organization’s senior team, personally delivered courses for mid-level leaders, and served as a mentor to three executive vice presidents.
“In the last decade, we’ve seen growth, volatility, and uncertainty impact markets across the globe. During these times, we’ve also seen stellar individuals whose vision and strength has led corporate Asia forward.”
In addition, he also championed the creation of a formal and systematic process for identifying, assessing, and developing executive talent. Using the assessment data
Satpal Brainch , president and managing director,
CNBC International gathered as part of this process, IRPC implemented a highly successful development program, constructed as a
“learning journey,” for 29 vice presidents.
© Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.
28

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:25 PM Page 29
His efforts paid off. In addition to measurable improvements attributable to the development programs, IRPC swung from a loss of 18 billion baht in 2008 to a strong position of profitability beginning in 2009.
When Dr. Pailin moved to the role of CEO of PTT (IRPC’s parent company and largest shareholder), he brought with him his strong track record and exceptional leadership ability, as well as his emphasis on talent.
“One of the first things I announced to our management team was that I am the owner of the human resource work of PTT,” Dr. Pailin recalls. “I declared my intention to make
PTT a Fortune Global 100 company on the strength of rescue teams and participated in various aid initiatives, including distributing food and supplies.
PTT’s focus was not only on providing assistance, but also on helping Thailand recover. The company enacted a recovery plan to address basic needs including sanitation, public health, and habitation. Among the projects initiated under the plan were restoring of temples, schools, and public parks; dispatching mobile clinic units; the repair of electrical appliances; car and agricultural engine inspection and reparation; and improving the quality of floodwater. PTT also made significant monetary contributions to multiple relief funds. our people.” The DDI associates working with PTT on its talent initiatives readily agree that Dr. Pailin backs up these words with action.
But while he set about demonstrating his commitment to PTT’s talent, his first months on the job proved to be defined by a major crisis: the worst flooding to hit Thailand in
50 years.
Under Dr. Pailin’s leadership, PTT took the lead in alerting both the government and the
“Our people united and met the crisis,” he says. “The commitment of our people was on display, showing the public the strength of our beliefs, our values, and the quality of our people. We stand together in a time of crisis.”
I feel that becoming a leader is just the beginning of the hard work.
Dr. Pailin acknowledges that PTT’s highly visible efforts to do the right thing during the flood crisis helped improve the organization’s public image which, as a highly profitable energy company, had been traditionally negative. public to the severity of the flooding and also became But behind all that PTT did during the flood relief and involved in meeting the challenges presented by the crisis. recovery efforts was the strength of a leader who under-
“Literally, we were the first to alert the government that there would be a big disaster coming,” he says. stands the importance of his role, and the responsibility that comes with it. With the floods now in the past, Dr.
Pailin is pleased to be able to focus on initiatives such as
PTT’s university that it created to develop “first-class man-
PTT’s headquarters was used as an emergency management center, and during the critical first days of the flooding Dr. Pailin directed the company to devote its full resources to addressing the crisis.
Sixty-five of Thailand’s 77 provinces experienced flooding, and more than 800 people were killed. By the time the waters had subsided, 12.8 million people had been affected, including about half of PTT’s workforce. agers and leaders within PTT.” He also is personally involved in launching an academy, which will educate leaders from other companies on energy and conservation, and establishing a leading public engineering and technology research institute for Thailand.
“A leader is one who commits to lead the organization to its goals,” Dr. Pailin says. “And it’s a commitment of a lifetime.
I know that some leaders see a leadership role as reward
“Our first priority was to ensure security for the whole country, and the second was to do what we could to help those who were affected,” Dr. Pailin says.
for their hard work. But I feel that becoming a leader is just the beginning of the hard work.”
PTT was at the forefront in working to restore power to stricken areas. Employees, meanwhile, volunteered for
See a video on the 10th annual Asia Business
Leaders Awards at www.ddiworld.com.
29 © Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:25 PM Page 30
G O
Entirely new e-version featuring:
• Accompanying videos
• Bonus content and resources
• Instant access to additional information
• An easier way to share your favorite articles
Check it out at www.ddiworld.com/go
Now you can access and read GO on your mobile device.
Same great articles and thought leadership . . . wherever you are!
Go mobile at www.ddiworld.com/mobile/go
© Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 3:25 PM Page 31
>>>
In a three-part, multimedia series, Barry sits down with his friend Julie
Clow, author of The Work Revolution: Freedom and Excellence for All, to hear why she thinks we need a work revolution and how you can start one.
“The notion of creating an ‘idea-testing, rather than an idea-judging, culture’ resonates strongly for me, and yet I am struck by how few leaders I’ve known through the years who seem truly dedicated to creating the space for their folks to do just that without some fear of repercussion.”
>>>
In his two-part blog, Evan offers up his insights on the many important talent management topics covered at the annual Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) conference held earlier this year.
“The conference has also become increasingly practical in its focus, particularly in its investigations of leading-edge approaches and technologies.
In many cases, SIOP is the only reliable source for deep and data-driven insights about the value produced by—and unrecognized risks of—these new methods. These factors have contributed to enhanced interest in the conference from talent management professionals.”
>>>
Jennifer shares her thoughts on some of the key themes discussed at this thought-provoking industry event held in April.
“But the key is that leaders can shift the way they lead, the way they listen, respond to ideas, relate to their teams and give permission to fail to feed organizational agility—and the innovation journey.”
Follow DDI’s blog, Talent Management Intelligence , by visiting blogs.ddiworld.com
and sign up to receive the RSS feed via e-mail or through your favorite RSS reader.
© Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXII. All rights reserved.

Cpdm204_GO_July2012_CopyrightsLinks_v8 7/23/2012 4:19 PM Page 32
D EVELOPMENT D IMENSIONS I NTERNATIONAL
1225 Washington Pike | Bridgeville, PA | 15017-2838 | USA
International Headquarters: 1-800-933-4463
(
)
We’re sure you’ve heard the latest mantra: “Get back to basics.”
But the truth is we’ve been advocating and practicing the basics for nearly four decades.
Leaders have two roles to play. Building relationships and getting work done through others. Both demand strong essential interaction skills. Leaders have to learn to listen, empathize, involve and support before they can learn to coach, influence others, build partnerships, and gain commitment. And when they don’t develop these essential skills up front, they don’t develop into great leaders.
DDI builds these skills in more than 300,000 leaders worldwide every year. Why do we do it? Because we know it works. And it will work for your leaders, too.
Want to learn the secret to developing these skills in your leaders?
Download DDI’s new booklet at www.ddiworld.com/EssentialsGuide.
*LQA6*
LQA6
MKTCPDM204-071210MA