The Global Executive Development Process, initiated in 1999, is designed to build and develop Mittal Steel’s pool of management talent by enhancing the skills and leadership qualities of top performers and enabling them to achieve their maximum potential through opportunities for professional and personal development.
The programme is underpinned by an annual management evaluation process
that maps competencies across the organisation so that successive levels of leaders can be identified and developed. Over a thousand managers have been profiled so that opportunities can be found within the Group that match the individuals’ strengths and specific areas can be identified for their development, also to strengthen
the Group as a whole.
The annual performance and potential evaluation process is integrated with the remuneration structure –both fixed and variable. With three years’ data now in place, a core cadre of promising managers has been identified. All are being actively supported in their development, by way of increasing involvement in the Business Units/ Group.
Certain initiatives were put in place in 2004. One was to broaden the range of learning opportunities open to good performers and high-potential managers within the Leadership Development process. A detailed study was made of the various management development programmes on offer at international business schools globally. Following input from the chief executive officers of all Business Units, the study identified appropriate courses for which high performing managers from across the Group will be nominated in 2005.
Work is continuing on identifying programmes for the longer-term pipeline of managerial talent and supporting it with external courses in functional areas such as marketing, finance and procurement. Mittal Steel is also planning to work with certain Business Schools on the development of customised programmes.
Developing younger talent has also been another focus area within the Group in 2004. Increased numbers of younger people in technical and commercial functions underwent performance evaluation and were identified for specific high-profile assignments within their business unit to assess their potential for higher roles.
Mittal Steel’s dramatic growth in recent years has made it imperative to look outside the Group, as well as within, for managerial talent. In 2004, a new element of the Global Executive Development Process was put in place with the launch of the Business Leaders Initiative. This is aimed at recruiting young and promising MBAs as they emerge from the world’s leading business schools.
In the first year of the initiative, a team of senior managers made presentations at 10 leading business schools in Asia, Europe and the UK. The first recruits took up their positions in June 2004.
In 2005, the Mittal Steel recruitment team will repeat the process at leading US and Canadian business schools. The intention is to increase the number of hires in 2005 given the success of the programme in 2004. Business school campus visits and presentations will be part of the regular annual calendar in future years. The intention is that the MBA recruits progress over time to general management positions.
This will only happen after they have displayed their talents in functional areas.
All these practices are only part of a broader integrated HR action that also strives to enhance competitiveness through proactive benchmarking, continuous update and knowledge sharing, contributing to the overall business strategy. A fundamental role is played by the HR teams of each business unit, whose alignment has proved vital to implement these plans.
Overall, the initiatives now in place provide a mechanism for continuously identifying, motivating, developing and retaining talented entrepreneurial managers – and facilitating a culture of excellence within Mittal Steel.
|
