How it was instrumental
The leadership talent pipeline as applied by Ecolab was instrumental in the company’s execution of its business strategy in a number of ways. First, the leadership talent pipeline enabled the company to identify the most important areas where personnel had to be trained in preparation for the growth that the company had planned for in its strategy. The senior positions that are vital in any business expansion were identified and therefore included in the pipeline. Secondly, the leadership pipeline talent provided an avenue through which those lacking in some management and leadership areas would be trained since the leadership pipeline had the vital provision of education and training for the already employed personnel. This was a powerful choice by Ecolab that enabled it to build on what was already available instead of firing these people and hiring new ones who would have taken a longer time to know how the company operates. Also, the leadership pipeline provided for the invaluable element of mentorship wherein qualified but inexperienced employees would easily learn how the job is done through close cooperation with senior and experienced leaders within the company. Through all these ways, the leadership pipeline came in handy in the company’s attempt to move to new markets and achieve a respectable global presence.
Ecolab’s management Philosophy
Ecolab’s talent management philosophy is summed up in five points. The first one is that talent is shared. The potential of an employee who works in a particular department within Ecolab is company potential and not departmental potential. In this perspective, the ability for employees within the company to cooperate from department to department in order to deal with issues becomes easy. Ecolab scored high marks by devising this point. Secondly, the company philosophy that Ecolab embraced emphasized making use of internal human resources. The issue that they identified is that development is important and therefore the best way to strengthen company operation is to develop what is already in the company. Thirdly, Ecolab adopted the idea that everyone in the company can develop. It also made it clear that the development of associates in the company is the responsibility of all the stakeholders. The fourth element of the Ecolab philosophy was that performance alone is not sufficient. They put emphasis on the ability to move to the next level as the next target after being able to perform at a particular level. The reasoning behind this was that a situation in which some junior employee would be needed to take up a senior position would have turned out to be a nightmare if the junior employee was not fully developed. This put them on a safe side in terms of leadership in moments of crisis. The last element of the Ecolab talent philosophy was that the development of talent had to be pursued with consistency. This makes sense in that as new people join the company, they too need to be developed and if the program stops, then it means that the new personnel will be of a lower caliber due to lack of development.
Critical components of the Leadership Talent Pipeline
The critical elements of the Ecolab leadership pipeline include education and training, leadership assessment, and mentorship. Under leadership assessment, the associates are carefully examined to gauge their leadership potential. This determines the level of training that they will receive. Those with a lower potential will get more training while those with high potential will receive slightly reduced training. Under education and training, the assessed associates are subjected to a well designed training program to prepare them for current and more demanding future roles while in mentorship, the trained associates are attached to senior more experienced associates in order to learn how the job is done.
The outcome of the Pipeline
With the leadership pipeline implemented, Ecolab witnessed tremendous success. They were able to have a ready supply of qualified personnel at all levels. Talent sharing within the departments in the company became easier and responsibility among the employees rose significantly. The overall result was the improved performance in production and sales.