Johnson & Johnson: Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders

In addition, the program administrator follows up with participants in 90 days to encourage and guide completion of their action plans. At the end of Phase 3, a follow-up survey is sent to participants and their managers asking about the on-the-job impact of actions implemented. While the program has been in place for a little more than a year, therefore with a relatively small sample size, self-report results show: Nearly 60 percent discussed their program action plans with their manager immediately after the program, 100 percent implemented some or almost all the actions they listed and more than 85 percent had actually used the learning from the program on the job when they returned.

Mary Lauria, Johnson & Johnson's director of management education and development, has summarized the value of this learning experience.

“J&J’s strategy is very simple: leadership and growth,” she said. “While there is no better training ground than an actual job assignment, we believe leaders at all levels around the world should be supported at critical transition points in their careers. This is where the Leaders Developing Leaders program plays a very critical role. It is a strategic investment, aligned to our business strategy, helping to build our pipeline with extraordinary leaders. Using a blended-learning approach, it provides participants with the right skills, approaches and tools to develop the leaders for our future.”

Stephen L. Cohen is vice president of the Learning Solutions Group (LSG) for Carlson Marketing Group, a relationship marketing services firm and a division of the Carlson Co. Andrea Deege is a senior learning consultant with LSG responsible for needs assessment and design, development and delivery of all program elements. Uneeda Brewer-Frazier is director of management education and development for Johnson & Johnson. They can be reached at scohen@clomedia.com.