Stellantis Women's Leadership Experience Earns Second Coveted Brandon Hall Award

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Dec. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Stellantis Women's Leadership Experience (WLE) leadership development program recently earned a Silver Award for excellence from the Brandon Hall Group.

• Silver Award earned in 2021 added to company's Bronze Award earned in 2020
• Program seeks to reverse the effect of several societal trends identified in McKinsey & Company's Women in the Workplace Report
• Third class of Stellantis women graduated from the program in October 2021
• Methodology expanding to support the launch of two new leadership programs focusing on Black and multicultural employees

This was the second award for excellence the program has earned over the past two years. The program earned a Brandon Hall Bronze Award in its first year of eligibility in 2020.

The Brandon Hall Excellence Awards recognize the best organizations that have successfully deployed programs, strategies, modalities, processes, systems and tools that have achieved measurable results. The awards attract entrants from leading corporations around the world.

The WLE seeks to reverse the effect of several societal trends identified in McKinsey & Company's Women in the Workplace Report:

• That women remain significantly underrepresented in the corporate leadership pipeline, even at entry-level positions
• At every subsequent career step, the representation of women further declines, and women of color face an even more dramatic drop-off at senior levels
• As a result, only one in five senior executive leaders at U.S. companies is a woman, and fewer than one in 30 is a woman of color

"Sitting back and watching these trends play out in our company and our society is no longer acceptable," said Teresa Thiele, director, aftermarket purchasing, global body & interior and North America operations and co-chairwoman of the Women's Alliance at Stellantis. "We must continue to battle against these disturbing trends and build on the momentum created from programs like The Women's Leadership Experience." 

In 2018, energized by the vision to do something tangible to attack these trends, a team of motivated members of the company's Women's Alliance Business Resource Group scoped out the challenge, secured executive buy-in, and focused available expertise and resources to develop a unique developmental experience.

The result was an eight-month program offering participants a mix of executive experiences, including executive coaching, executive sponsor interactions with both male and female sponsors and leadership opportunities.

This robust program was designed to enrich participant perspectives of the business, connect to senior leaders and enhance their individual leadership tool kit.

The WLE inaugural class concluded in October 2019, graduating 24 participants, some of whom have already been promoted at the company.

The program has graduated two additional classes, with the most recent completing the program in October 2021. The three WLE cohorts have achieved career success, as 86% of the candidates have already experienced career growth through promotion or developmental assignments, with improved retention.

"In the end, this is an outstanding example of how truly empowered people with vision, passion and selflessness can affect meaningful change ... change that benefits an entire organization," said Rob Wichman, global planning lead for body on frame vehicles and executive sponsor of the Stellantis Women's Alliance Business Resource Group.

Stellantis is applying the focus and methodology of the program to launch two additional leadership development initiatives for high potential Black and multicultural employee leaders. These programs will kick off in January 2022. 

Stellantis
Stellantis (NYSE: STLA) is one of the world's leading automakers and a mobility provider, guided by a clear vision to offer freedom of movement with distinctive, affordable and reliable mobility solutions. In addition to the Group's rich heritage and broad geographic presence, its greatest strengths lie in its sustainable performance, depth of experience and the wide-ranging talents of employees working around the globe. Stellantis will leverage its broad and iconic brand portfolio, which was founded by visionaries who infused the brands with passion and a competitive spirit that speaks to employees and customers alike. Stellantis aspires to become the greatest, not the biggest, while creating added value for all stakeholders, as well as the communities in which it operates. 

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SOURCE Stellantis