What Makes a Company Great at Producing Leaders?

Sarah Abbott, Robin Abrahams, and Boris Groysberg11 December 2023

What Makes a Company Great at Producing Leaders?

In 2018, 31 companies listed on the S&P 1500 were led by former GE employees. GE is what was known as an “academy company”— an elite company that produces more talent than it holds on to, exporting effective leaders to other organizations and even industries. These talent incubators have been a feature of the business world since the 1970s.

In an effort to better understand the landscape of talent incubators in the 2020s, the Official Board, a firm that provides data on corporate organizational charts and executive movement, surveyed 853 executives on the topic in January and February 2023, asking for their thoughts on which companies are top talent incubators, and what qualities or practices make them unique. “Executive” was defined as a member of the board of directors, CEO, an executive reporting directly to a CEO, or a manager reporting to a CEO direct report. Our survey respondents worked at medium-to-large companies with more than $100M in annual revenue, including Global Fortune 500, Global Forbes 2000, and Russell 3000 companies. The survey was supplemented by our interviews with executive search consultants.

Survey respondents identified their own function, industry, and region and were then asked to name the top three talent incubators in each of those categories. The consolidated table below lists the 25 most frequently mentioned companies.

To better understand which companies are top talent incubators today, the Official Board, a firm that provides data on corporate organizational charts and executive movement, surveyed 853 executives. The most frequently mentioned companies are listed in this chart, along with their industry. First is MickKinsey, in the consulting industry. Second is Google, in the technology industry. Third is Microsoft, also technology. Fourth is Unilever and Fifth is Procter and Gamble, both in consumer packaged goods. Sixth is Amazon and Seventh is Apple, both in technology. Eighth is GE, in the industrial industry. Ninth is Deloitte, in accounting-slash-consulting, and Tenth is Accenture, in the consulting industry. Eleventh is Ness-lee, in consumer packaged goods. Twelfth is Goldman Sachs, in the financial industry. PwC in the accounting-slash-consulting industry and Siemens in the industrial industry are Tied at thirteenth. Fifteenth is IBM, in technology. Sixteenth is BCG, in consulting. Seventeenth is JPMorgan, in the financial industry. Two pharmaceutical companies are tied for eighteenth: Johnson and Johnson, and Pfizer. Tied for twentieth are Bain and Company, in consulting; Harvard University, in education; PepsiCo, in consumer packaged goods; and Shell, in the energy industry. Twenty-fourth is Citibank, in the financial industry. And tied for twenty-fifth is Bosch in the industrial industry, and EY and KPMG, both in the accounting-slash-consulting industry. Source: The Official Board

See more HBR charts in Data & Visuals

Most of the above organizations are in the knowledge-based industries. This is typical of talent incubators — the extended investment in HR and development required to be a talent incubator is easier to find in industries with high profit margins (e.g., consumer packaged goods/“CPG” and consulting) compared to those with slimmer margins (such as restaurants).

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What Makes a Company Great at Producing Leaders?

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