Culture Makeover: Leveraging Female Leadership Talent
August 08, 2008
The culture change your bosses proposed ages ago still hasn't sunk in? You may be in need of a development series targeting an under-represented group of employees.
By Helene Lollis
The leadership at LeasePlan USA, a provider of vehicle leasing and fleet management solutions, had been exploring ways to create a corporate model that would more accurately reflect its diverse client base of fleet managers, directors, and administrators who were, more often than not, women. To begin developing a culture within LeasePlan that fully leverages the female talent of the organization, the company engaged Pathbuilders, a firm that develops professional women leaders, to create a customized Women’s Professional Development Series. The program is comprised of interactive educational seminars, discussion forums, and networking opportunities designed for high-performing women in all levels of the organization.
The female talent development program is founded on two major premises:
• The company would move from a culture based largely on tenure and entitlement to one that is clearly performance-driven.
• The program would be viewed as a strategic investment in the future growth and success of the company, not merely as a 'nice thing to do.'
"I don't think of it as a cost as much as an investment," says David Dahm, president and chief excecutive officer of LeasePlan. "A lot of people take the high road and say that this is the right thing to do. I think it's the smart thing to do."
LeasePlan and Pathbuilders conducted a series of surveys that measured women's perceptions on a number of key indicators. The surveys were administered before and after the program was delivered—to both participants and their peers. Feedback from women who participated in the program improved on all points when pre-program results were compared with post-program results. In keeping with LeasePlan's stated goal of influencing change throughout their organizational culture, key perception indicators also improved among peers who did not participate in the program.
The custom curriculum designed by Pathbuilders provides a strengths assessment, as well as training in personal branding, internal marketing, job enrichment, organizational culture, and career planning. LeasePlan's own senior management team participated in the various panels alongside women executives from outside industries and organizations. "[Pathbuilders] brought together a lot of different women from a lot of different disciplines and backgrounds," says Veronica Landers, director of billing and collections, who participated in the program. "They brought in women who had worked their way up through the ranks. It was very real to every woman who was sitting in the room."
Helene Lollis is the president of Pathbuilders, Inc., a consultancy that works with companies to create development programs for high-performing women. For more information, visit www.pathbuilders.com.
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