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Fortune 500 Insurance Division Transforms Leadership Pipeline
When internal promotion practices fail, and organizations over-rely on external hires, employee engagement plummets and costs escalate. This Fortune Global 500 insurance division partnered with Growth Potential Consulting to rebuild its leadership pipeline and succession planning process, resulting in improved employee engagement, reduced external hiring costs, and a sustainable talent management system that distinguishes high performers from high-potential leaders.
Challenge
A division of a Fortune Global 500 insurance company was facing a critical talent development crisis that threatened both organizational performance and culture. Despite having talented employees, their leadership identification and promotion process was fundamentally flawed, creating cascading business problems.
The Promotion Problem: Recently promoted leaders were struggling and often failing in their new roles, revealing a critical gap between technical performance and leadership readiness. Without objective leadership assessment criteria, the organization was promoting the wrong people for the wrong reasons.
The External Dependency Cycle: As internal promotions failed, the company increasingly relied on external hires to fill leadership vacancies, creating a vicious cycle that undermined talent development and organizational culture.
The Organizational Impact: This flawed approach created widespread damage:
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Employee morale crisis: Internal advancement opportunities seemed to disappear, creating frustration and disengagement among high performers
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Declining engagement scores: Employee engagement and satisfaction metrics showed concerning downward trends as talented people questioned their future with the organization
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Escalating costs: Higher recruiting, onboarding, and training costs for external hires were significantly impacting the division's bottom line
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Knowledge drain: Over-reliance on external talent resulted in lost institutional knowledge and cultural continuity
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Competitive disadvantage: Inability to develop internal leadership threatened long-term organizational capability
The division needed a strategic partner to help rebuild its leadership pipeline, restore confidence in promotion practices, and establish a sustainable succession-planning process.
Our Approach
Growth Potential Consulting (GPC) worked closely with the division's executive team to implement a comprehensive talent management transformation focused on sustainability and internal capability building:
Phase 1: Assessment & Baseline
Leadership Process Evaluation:
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Conducted a diagnostic assessment of existing talent identification and promotion practices
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Identified root causes of promotion failures and external hiring dependency
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Analyzed the current leadership competency framework and decision-making criteria
Talent Assessment:
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Applied GPC's proprietary Passionate Leader Continuum™ leadership model to evaluate senior-level employees
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Established a clear baseline of current leadership capability and potential across the division
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Differentiated between high performance and high potential for leadership roles
Phase 2: Collaborative System Design
Co-Creation Approach: Rather than imposing an external system, GPC partnered with the company's leaders to co-create a customized talent management process. This collaborative approach ensured:
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Practical solutions aligned with operational realities
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Cultural fit with organizational values and norms
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Strong internal buy-in and ownership from day one
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Sustainable processes that could be maintained without ongoing external support
Process Components:
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Objective leadership assessment criteria tied to business needs
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Consistent talent calibration methodology
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Clear distinction between performance and potential
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Transparent promotion readiness standards
Phase 3: Capability Building for Sustainability
Leadership Development: Provided targeted coaching and skill-building to Senior Leaders and HR Business Partners, focusing on:
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Identifying leadership potential: Recognizing the difference between high performance in the current role versus the capability for expanded leadership responsibility
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Calibration consistency: Implementing fair, objective talent review processes that reduce bias and increase reliability
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Assessment execution: Developing skills to conduct effective leadership capability evaluations using standardized criteria
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Succession planning: Creating robust succession pools and development plans
Phase 4: Full-Cycle Implementation
Execution & Integration:
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Implemented a complete leadership evaluation cycle using the new process
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Conducted comprehensive talent reviews across all business units
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Facilitated calibration sessions to ensure consistency
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Culminated in an executive leadership review with the CEO, ensuring alignment and visibility at the highest level
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Established an ongoing cadence for future talent review cycles
This comprehensive approach created sustainable organizational capability rather than a one-time intervention.
Result
The partnership between Growth Potential Consulting and the insurance division delivered transformative, measurable results that addressed both immediate talent needs and long-term organizational capability.
Strategic Talent Visibility:
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Clear leadership gap analysis: The CEO and executive leadership team gained comprehensive insight into critical leadership gaps, aligned with specific business needs and strategic priorities
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Data-driven decisions: Leadership succession and development decisions now based on objective assessment data rather than subjective opinions
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Risk mitigation: Identified and addressed high-risk succession gaps before they became critical
Performance vs. Potential Distinction:
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High-performer identification: Successfully identified the top 20% of high performers who excel in their current roles
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High-potential leader identification: Separately identified true high-potential leaders with capacity for expanded responsibility and complexity
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Right development for right people: Ensured high performers receive recognition and rewards while high-potential leaders receive development and advancement opportunities
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Reduced promotion failures: Dramatically decreased instances of promoted leaders struggling in new roles
Sustainable Succession Planning:
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Formal succession pool established: Created a reliable pipeline of "ready now" and "ready future" leadership talent for critical positions
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Reduced external hiring dependency: Significantly decreased reliance on costly external hires to fill leadership positions
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Cost savings: Reduced recruiting, onboarding, and new-hire ramp-up costs
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Retention improvement: Decreased turnover among high-potential talent who now see clear advancement paths
Cultural & Engagement Transformation:
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Improved employee engagement: Employee engagement scores improved significantly following implementation, as internal promotion paths became visible and credible again
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Restored confidence: Employees regained trust in the organization's commitment to internal development
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Enhanced morale: Talented employees could see legitimate advancement opportunities based on merit and potential
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Competitive employer brand: Strengthened ability to attract and retain top talent
Organizational Capability:
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Internal expertise: HR Business Partners and senior leaders now possess the skills to sustain the talent management process independently
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Consistent methodology: Standardized approach across all business units ensures fairness and reliability
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Sustainable competitive advantage: Created an ongoing capability to develop leadership talent aligned with evolving business needs
By transforming its leadership development approach, this Fortune Global 500 division created a sustainable competitive advantage through its people strategy, ensuring it has the right leaders in place to drive business success both today and in the future.
About This Engagement
Industry: Insurance
Client Type: Division of Fortune Global 500 company
Business Challenge: Failed internal promotions, over-reliance on external hires, and declining employee engagement
Organizational Scope: Division-wide leadership assessment and talent management system implementation
Key Stakeholders: CEO, Executive Leadership Team, Senior Leaders, HR Business Partners
Services Provided:
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Leadership pipeline assessment and development
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Succession planning strategy
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Talent management process design
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Leadership capability assessment (proprietary model)
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Executive and HR coaching
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CEO-level talent review facilitation
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Strategic advisory
Related Services
This engagement showcased Growth Potential Consulting's comprehensive talent management capabilities:
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Leadership Capability Assessment
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HR Business Partner Coaching