Going for gold

Abstract

Purpose – To explain how formal executive education can be used to drive corporate growth and development by helping high performers to achieve their full potential. Design/methodology/approach – Presents a case study describing a highly customized talent development program undertaken by Atos, a leading IT services company, in association with top business school HEC Paris. Findings – If you want to succeed in the IT services industry, it is no longer enough to have IT experts – you need people who are also “business technologists”. That is what the top management of Atos believe – and in the first decade of the twenty-first century Atos became the most successful company in the European ICT industry. The company achieved a rapid business transformation at a time of strongly increasing demand for IT services; multiple new entrants from fast-growing economies; and major developments in information technology. To support further growth and maintain their leading position in the industry, they set out to develop the executives of the future. Practical implications – Sets out the benefits to the organization and to the individual of integrating a learning and development program with the performance review and succession planning processes. Originality/value – Shows how a talent development program generated a positive return on investment by using real organizational issues as team projects.