Specialty Chemical Company Degussa AG 

The world’s largest specialty chemical company is German based Degussa.  With annual revenue of €12.9 billion, 300 manufacturing plants worldwide, and more than 54,000 employees, Degussa established a leadership development program after its merger of five specialty chemical companies in 2000-01.   

Managed by Ulrike Steinhorst of Degussa’s Corporate Resources, the leadership program established a competency model based on the company’s vision, mission, and guiding principles.  The program asked where the company is going, and then what kinds of leaders are needed to reach those strategic goals.  Interviews with 4 directors, focus groups with 8 executives, interviews with 18 line managers, and study of 75 top performers lead to the creation of a “Leadership Profile.” As described by Ms. Steinhorst: 

The Leadership Profile will serve as a common basis for our group wide Executive Development Process: 

o  Creating a common understanding and a common perception of what successful executives should show in their leadership behavior. 

o  Providing the appropriate criteria to assess candidates capable of filling executive positions. 

o  Establishing priorities for executive development. 

o  Contributing to ensure that we have the right people in the right jobs.   

It is a common platform for identification, assessment, selection and development of Degussa executives and their successors: 

o By identifying the qualities that, when combined, make excellent leaders who will deliver success in the Degussa organization. In this context, it is about behavior, not about technical management and skills.  

o By helping individuals and their teams to improve substantially their performance.  It can help every individual in Degussa to be a better, more effective leader who creates a climate for success. 

o  By providing a reference for focusing people on the behaviors which will achieve the defined vision, and mission, and give life to the guiding principles.  It contributes to build a common and unified culture. 

Eleven competencies are clustered in five major themes:

1) Passion for performance:  Successful leaders in Degussa are restless in their entrepreneurial drive and highly motivated to realize mission and strategic targets. This driver enables Degussa to seize opportunities and to make improvements in increasing the capability to deliver value and innovational solutions to the customers. This is the engine that makes the wheels turn. 

Related competency: entrepreneurial drive. 

2) Making sense of the business world:  Successful leaders understand the complexity of the environment in which they operate: customers, markets, competitors, politics. Involving systematic approaches to getting the right information, digging beyond the obvious, successful leaders redefine markets, products or processes through new and innovative ideas.  

Related competencies: Customer Focus, Innovative Thinking. 

3) Making sense of the people:  Successful leaders in Degussa know how to value diversity, both cultural and other aspects of managing a global business, on an individual, interpersonal and organizational level. They have excellent insight into the organization and they know best how to use the organizational resources.  They know about the importance to act always in line with the principles, beliefs and values of Degussa.  

Related competencies: Understanding People and Cultures, Understanding Organizations, Living the Principles.

4) Courage and determination:  Successful leaders in Degussa have a strong belief in their capabilities to face highly challenging situations, to take the right decisions and stick to their opinions even in conflict with powerful others. They have a strong “backbone." 

5) Delivering change, and a climate for success:  Successful Degussa leaders are able to translate their insights into markets and organizations, into energizing people and teams, and thereby deliver actual performance. They position themselves as team leaders ensuring that their teams know and support the targets.  In leading others, they empower people, support and develop them in their roles to build up the required human resources to be a strategic asset for Degussa. They are capable of flexibility, reacting to new situations while keeping the overriding targets in mind.  

Related competencies: Building Capability, Team Leadership, Persuading Others, Adaptability. 

The Leadership Profile as a universal platform will be integrated into a number of key human resource processes such as: 

o  Identification and assessment of potential

o  Definition of the talent pool

o  Talent review processes

o  Assessment for executive development

o  Succession- and career planning 

The Profile will give Degussa on a world-wide basis a common language and understanding and perception of what top-performing executives should show in their leadership behavior. Because the Profile provides a clear and transparent language about the competencies, it will facilitate communication and discussions across borders. It is meant to be a  pragmatic and easy to use tool. 

Note:  Ulrike Steinhorst can be reached at Ulrike.Steinhorst@Degussa.com, and Degussa’s home page can be found here.