“Usually, we sponsor candidates between the manager and director level at our firm who have a track record of demonstrated performance, have been here for four to five years, and have shown a commitment to their career with the company.”
Alex Gorsky, WG'96
Novartis North America
Sponsorship in an MBA program can prepare a future leader for top management positions and encourage a promising performer to stay with your company.
In this section, sponsors offer advice on how to select employees for sponsorship and how to retain those employees once they graduate from the program.
Note: Supervising managers and executive development officers interested in nominating applicants who are under 30 years old and have less than 8 years of work experience are welcome to contact us. We would be happy to discuss the criteria for identifying appropriate Fellows candidates.For Sponsors: Answers to Common Questions
Making the Commitment to Invest
New Wharton MBAs can help recharge company performance by implementing in the office what they learn in the classroom.
"The ROI for [employers] is obvious – senior managers pursuing their MBAs can immediately translate the insights they learn into quality work for clients. They gain a broader set of references to use when analyzing business issues and have a great network of friends, future colleagues, and faculty," says Katherine Ebner, senior vice president for organizational effectiveness at Kaiser Associates.
Adds Alex Gorsky, WG'96, CEO of Novartis Pharmaceutical, "The executive MBA is a continuous development process, versus taking time off to pursue a full-time MBA and returning."
In fact, the only downside of sponsoring a Wharton executive MBA student is that companies can't afford to sponsor everyone. So companies need to focus on their most dynamic and irreplaceable candidates.
Selecting Your Top Leadership Talent
The best candidates are those at or just below the vice president or director level, executives say – mid-career performers who aren't about to bolt the company, but may be wondering how to make the step up to senior management.
"Usually, we sponsor candidates between the manager and director level who have a track record of demonstrated performance, have been here for four to five years, and have shown a commitment to their career with the company," says Gorsky.
Ebner says she looks for high-potential leaders who are "intelligent, have consulting skills, are self-motivated, have a passion for the business, are passionate about Kaiser's vision, have superior client relationship skills, and are excellent at managing time and prioritizing."
An MBA is a vote of confidence in a strong employee "that can make the difference to experienced managers who are looking for new challenges," says Gorsky. "That's when employees feel the most vulnerable. They're thinking, 'Should I stay or should I step out of the company?' Sponsoring them for an MBA is a strong signal from the firm that we want them to stay."
Realizing Your ROI
Once you have committed to making the investment in sponsorship, you need to make sure that you are able to retain the employee after the program. Sitting down with the employee and creating a career development plan shows potential leaders that they're valued. The career development plan is not only a critical roadmap for the future but also a highly recommended part of the application for admission.
"If you have someone who's smart enough and ambitious enough to get into a program like Wharton, then you need to find a way to make it work," says Lynda Wallace, WG'95, worldwide vice president of the Family Health Care Franchise at Johnson & Johnson. "And then, when it's all over, you need to recognize that the employee has changed, and you need to be ready to meet that person where she or he now is."
