Caterpillar has been named one of North America’s Top Companies for Leaders in a study sponsored by global human resources services company Hewitt Associates, in partnership with The RBL Group and Fortune magazine. The Top Companies for Leaders in North America were selected and ranked based on leadership practices, company reputation, leadership culture and values and business performance.
Since the company opened Caterpillar University, or Cat U, in 2001, it has focused on investing in all members of Team Caterpillar with an emphasis on continual learning. The formation of Cat U allowed the company to enhance the process of cultivating leaders who energize and engage their employees. Caterpillar provides formal learning and feedback opportunities for leaders with programs like Succeeding in Supervision, Making Great Leaders and Leadership Quest.
“At Caterpillar, the importance of developing leaders comes straight from the top,” says Chris Glynn, president of Cat U. “Our CEO, Jim Owens, strongly believes in a ‘leaders are teachers’ concept. Our leaders are passionate about guiding this company to becoming a truly admired global leader that makes progress possible around the world.”
When comparing the Top Companies for Leaders with more than 200 other companies in North America, Hewitt reported that it found one overarching characteristic that set companies in this list apart from the rest-Top Companies make leadership a critical part of the company’s organization fabric.
“Hewitt would like to congratulate Caterpillar as being named one of the Top Companies for Leaders in North America,” says Bob Gandossy, principal and global practice leader of Hewitt’s Consulting business. “While many companies in this region have made significant strides in building leadership capabilities, our research reveals that Top Companies such as Caterpillar have cultures that cultivate and nurture their talent and have a reputation for doing it well. In an increasingly complex and global marketplace, these characteristics differentiate successful businesses from unsuccessful ones.”
The Top Companies for Leaders Study is based on approximately 550 global organizations with an average employee size of 27,000. Almost 70 percent of the participating companies had revenues of $500 million or more.
Companies making this year’s list include General Electric, Capital One, Procter & Gamble, General Mills, McKinsey & Company, IBM, Medtronic, Washington Group International, Eli Lilly and Company, McDonald’s, Whirlpool, Avery Dennison, Lockheed Martin, Cummins, Caterpillar, Colgate-Palmolive, Sonoco Products, 3M, American Express and Liz Claiborne.
