Changing the Face of Leadership Through Sponsorship

Global Data and Software Company’s Road to Increasing Leadership Diversity

Lack of diversity at the top
This global company offers data and software products to investment communities around the world. Recognizing the valuable investment in diversifying leadership to increase innovation, a top priority in the company’s diversity & inclusion strategy was to rollout a sponsorship program led by the CEO and top executive team. The company did not have internal staff available to implement the strategic initiative, so they needed a partner that could engage with and educate the executive team and could also provide implementation support to design the program, create supporting communications and design measurements. Exponential Talent’s ability to both work at the top of organizations and also execute on implementation was a perfect match for this client’s needs.

Sponsorship of rising leaders by CEO and top team
Exponential Talent worked with executives to draft the sponsorship program and developed a methodical agenda supported by periodic progress updates and participant feedback:

Strategy & program design – Exponential Talent partnered with the client to develop a comprehensive program design including initiative goals, sponsoree identification process, and a communications approach.
Education – Exponential Talent conducted three customized sponsorship education workshops for HR business partners (HRBPs), executive sponsors, and participating sponsorees.
Accountability and measurement – The executives report sponsorship progress regularly at CEO staff meetings. Sponsoree career progress is tracked to ensure that the sponsorees achieve the goal of a major career move by the end of the program.

Solid foundation for successful career movement
All participants rated Exponential Talent’s education sessions highly and reported high readiness to effectively participate in sponsorship, with the goal of achieving a major career move in the next 18 months for sponsorees. In addition, participants reported that having a structured process to form their relationships provided a strong foundation of full engagement from sponsors and sponsorees. Regularly scheduled HR business partner check-ins with sponsors and sponsorees are showing significant momentum in career development, and a process for measuring results is in place. Executives are learning about the ways different people experience the organization, giving them stronger skills in inclusive leadership