Last week, a group of over 125 CEOs and HR executives from small- to medium-sized companies came to P&G’s Cincinnati headquarters to share ideas and insights around the topic of talent at Chief Executive Magazine’s 2016 CEO Talent Summit.
P&G has been broadly and consistently regarded as one of the world’s best companies for leaders, including our ranking on Chief Executive Magazine’s Top 40 Companies for Leaders list every year since 2007. Several current P&G leaders comprised the list of speakers at the Summit, including:
- David Taylor, P&G Chairman, President and CEO
- Mark Biegger, P&G Chief HR Officer
- Carolyn Tastad, P&G North America President
- Laura Mattimore, P&G VP of Global Talent
The first item on the agenda was an interview with retired P&G Chairman and CEO A.G. Lafley, who shared a wealth of perspective on what the CEO’s role should be in creating a winning talent strategy, especially in today’s digital world. Here’s an excerpt from the interview:
“When I joined P&G in the mid-70s, they selected me. When we hire today, the candidate is selecting us. Then every few months or years, they’re RE-selecting us. So a big part of the success of teams and individuals has to do withmotivation. It has to do withworking up to your capacity and capabilities. It has to do with intangibles that, in the end, make a difference. That has become more important in today’s socially-enabled digital world.”
David Taylor answered questions about the role the CEO and the leadership team play in creating the conditions for competitive advantage through inclusion and engagement, saying:
“The best ideas come from the fringes. If the environment is very top-down, you get traditional thinking at times. When the environment is flipped—when leaders empower, listen and learn, and ideas come from those closest to consumers—it’s a more creative environment, and you get much faster.”
Further reading from Chief Executive Magazine: Talking Talent with P&G CEO David Taylor
P&G’s association with Chief Executive Magazine stems from our long-standing status on their annual list of Top Companies for Leaders. In partnership with GrowthPlay, a Chicago-based sales and leadership consulting firm, Chief Executive identifies the top 40 public companies (over $1 billion in revenue) and 10 private companies that excel at leadership development—specifically, their track record for identifying and nurturing leaders three or more levels down from the CEO.
