Jean Paul Agon, the president and CEO of L’Oreal, joined the company right after his university graduation in 1978 and has continued to grow as a leader over his more than 40 years with the company. Headquartered in France with more than 80,000 employees around the globe, L’Oreal is the world’s largest cosmetic company. Today L’Oreal management still believes leadership development starts at the beginning of your career.

Each year, almost 650 recent university graduates join one of L’Oreal’s management training programs.85 The format of each program varies on geographic location, with trainees spending between 6 and 18 months taking on different missions throughout the organization to learn the business. Each trainee has a personal development plan that includes learning about the organization,

understanding the business models utilized by the different brands, and developing relationships throughout the organization. The program immerses the trainee into the organizational culture, and the trainee learns what it takes to succeed in the work environment. Most trainees are also connected with a mentor to answer questions and provide guidance.

A significant contributor to L’Oreal’s overall success is the cross-cultural awareness of managers who often lead diverse teams developing customized products for different regions of the world. While some of these leaders are recruited externally, many are developed through a specific international management training program that includes a 12-month rotation through Paris, New York, Singapore, and Rio de Janeiro.

This program seeks out graduates from international business schools who are curious and able to adapt to other cultures,

knowing this skill set is important to help tailor international brands to local markets.

Doing business globally also requires ethical leadership,

which is an important component of the firm’s leadership development. L’Oreal has been recognized for its efforts on the ethical front. In 2016, the Ethics & Compliance Initiative recognized L’Oreal’s innovation in ethical leadership. The company was also named as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere.86 L’Oreal’s leadership development efforts do not stop with recent graduates. In fact, managers at all levels of the organization have the opportunity to further develop their leadership ability through a variety of programs.

These programs are primarily based on coaching leaders and are offered with the belief that an investment in leaders goes farther as those leaders then develop their own teams. Managers throughout the organization are held accountable for the development of their employees.

Those that fail at developing their own teams, even if they meet business goals, lose out on performance awards. All this emphasizes this important point: Leadership matters at L’Oreal.

Discussion Questions 1. Why do you think L’Oreal invests so much in leadership development?

2. What role can a mentor play in leadership development?

3. Why is cross-cultural awareness important for leaders at a company such as L’Oreal?

4. Why is ethical leadership important for leaders at a company such as L’Oreal?

5. Do you think a management training program would be a good way to start a career with a company? Why or why not? Think about your answer to this question, and then, in your assigned group, discuss this question. Then, suppose you were mentoring a younger student, what would you tell them about leadership development and management training programs?