GE Tops in Leadership

For the fourth time in the last five years, General Electric has been named number one in a list of best Companies for Leadership, according to a survey conducted by the Hay Group, a global management consulting firm.

The study ranks the best companies for leadership around the globe and examines how those companies develop current and future leaders. This year, GE topped the list for the second straight year. It was followed by Procter & Gamble, Intel Corporation, Siemens and Banco Santander.

According to Hay Group's study, all of the Top 20 companies report that everyone at every level of the organization has the opportunity to develop and practice the capabilities needed to lead others, compared to less than 70 percent of all other companies in the study. In addition, 90 percent of the Top 20 companies report that people are expected to lead regardless of whether they have a formal position of authority, compared to only 59 percent of other companies.

"The Top 20 Best Companies for Leadership are at the forefront of a significant shift away from hierarchical organizational operating models," said Rick Lash, Director in Hay Group's Leadership and Talent Practice and co-leader of the Best Companies for Leadership Study. "Leadership in the twenty-first century is about leading at all levels; not restricting it to title. As organizations become flatter, the best leaders are learning they must check their egos at the door and become increasingly sensitive to diversity, generational and geographical issues."

The Hay Group lauded GE for again making the commitment to developing leaders, saying GE maintains its "top-notch reputation for leadership excellence."

For a full look at the survey results, as well as the full rankings for the Hay Group's Global Top 20, click here.

For other features from the Hay Group tied to the survey, click here.

Finally, for complete coverage of the survey in Bloomberg BusinessWeek magazine, click here.