Building Role-Model Leadership Information

Our development offerings focus on developing the leadership behaviors and essential skills needed to ensure our continued success. Our ambition is to inspire and nurture talented and diverse leaders who exemplify our leadership behaviors. We undertake different initiatives to elevate and enhance our leadership pipeline:

• Leadership development experiences: Our portfolio of leadership development experiences is designed for every level of management across all markets and functions. They include our ‘People Leader Experience’ (‘PLE’), ‘Manager Development Experience’ (‘MDE’), ‘Director Development Experience’ (‘DDE’), and ‘Executive Development Experience’ (‘EDE’). These interactive learning experiences support the development of leadership skills that are directly linked to the participants’ current roles and responsibilities, as well as being aligned to our values. In 2023, 982 employees enrolled in MDE or DDE, of which 562 completed the programs through a virtual experience. Additionally, 1,551 people leaders and/or those who aspire to lead people enrolled in PLE, with 1,314 completing the program through a virtual, collaborative experience.
• adidas 360°: After a successful pilot in 2022, adidas 360° was introduced as a tool for leadership development in 2023. It involves soliciting feedback from multiple sources, including managers, direct reports, and other stakeholders. The purpose of adidas 360° is to help senior leadership gain a better understanding of how their behavior is perceived. It provides valuable feedback as a critical driver for professional and organizational growth.
• Succession management: Our succession management approach aims to ensure stability and certainty in business continuity through the development of strong internal talent pipelines for critical leadership positions. We achieve this through a globally consistent succession process that identifies these critical leadership positions and matches our top talent as successors to these roles. We also drive the succession process through achievable development plans that prepare the identified successors for their next steps. Our leadership groups and top talent pool serve as the succession pipeline for the executive roles in our organization.
• Leadership groups: Our leadership groups consist of the ‘Core Leadership Group’ (‘CLG’) and the ‘Extended Leadership Group’ (‘ELG’). The CLG partners with the Executive Board, while the ELG collaborates across markets and functions, leading the execution of our strategic initiatives. Furthermore, the ELG drives continuous improvement and consistency throughout the organization.
• Global High-Potential Program: We invest in selected high-performing and high-potential employees through our ‘Global High Potential’ (‘GHIPO’) program. This program enables us to identify and develop global high-potential leaders who have the ability to take on more complex and demanding responsibilities at a higher leadership level. The program is designed to strengthen the participants’ business acumen skills, build peer relationships and give participants cross-functional and cross-cultural exposure. Through continuous investment into the development and growth of our GHIPOs, we are strengthening our global, regional, local, and functional succession pipelines. Until the end of 2023, a total of 94% of the GHIPO participants successfully made positive career steps through upward, lateral, cross-cultural, or cross-functional moves.