Hewitt Associates Selects General Mills as a Top Company for Leaders

General Mills ranks within top 10 on Global Top Companies for Leaders list


Hewitt Associates today named General Mills as a Global Top Company for Leaders, recognizing the company’s commitment to developing and retaining great leaders. General Mills ranks sixth compared with more than 550 companies around the world.

Sponsored by global human resources services company Hewitt Associates, in partnership with The RBL Group and FORTUNE magazine, the Global Top Companies for Leaders were selected and ranked based on criteria including leadership practices, company reputation, leadership culture, and values and business performance.

“Leadership development has long been a strategic priority at General Mills,” said Mike Peel, senior vice president of human resources and corporate services. “To win in our increasingly more global and more competitive markets, we know that we must have great leaders working in a championship culture, which enables them to achieve great results.”

General Mills invests in staffing senates, a cross-boundary movement council and individual development plans to grow talent among emerging leaders. The company also strongly encourages community involvement as a way to develop leaders and make a positive difference in the community.

“At General Mills, more than 80 percent of positions above entry level are filled from within the company,” said Peel. “This requires very strong university recruiting and leadership development processes, as well as the mentality throughout the company that a central part of each manager’s job is people development.”

When comparing the Global Top Companies with more than 550 other companies around the world, Hewitt reported that it found one overarching characteristic that set companies in this list apart from the rest – Global Top Companies make leadership a critical part of the company’s organizational fabric. Specifically, the study found that leadership practices at Global Top Companies are an inherent part of the culture, and that developing future leaders is simply a way of operating that must be intertwined with running the business.

“Hewitt would like to congratulate General Mills as being named one of the Top Global Companies for Leaders,” said Bob Gandossy, principal and global practice leader of Hewitt’s Consulting business. “Through Hewitt’s research, it is evident that Global Top Companies such as General Mills have cultures that cultivate and nurture their talent, and a reputation for doing it well. In an increasingly complex and global marketplace, these characteristics differentiate successful businesses from unsuccessful ones.”