General Mills advances in Fortune’s “Global Top Companies for Leaders” list

Today General Mills advanced to second place in the 2011 list of the Global Top Companies for Leaders, the most comprehensive study of organizational leadership in the world. The list was revealed on CNNMoney.com this morning and will appear in the Nov. 21 issue of FORTUNE.

“We firmly believe that our consistent approach of attracting talented people with potential, and providing them with challenging assignments, great managers, leadership training and mentoring provides us with the rich pipeline of leaders we need to grow our business around the world,” said Kevin Wilde, vice president and chief learning officer for General Mills. “We’re honored to be recognized by FORTUNE along with the best of the best in leadership development,” he said.

General Mills offers career-long development opportunities for employees at each stage of their careers, including mentoring, access to leadership experts and speakers, training at the General Mills Institute, tuition reimbursement, and individual development planning.

According to Wilde, the company believes that the best companies win with talented, committed employees who grow and develop to achieve their highest potential, making significant contributions to the business over a long tenure at the company. As a result of this approach, 85 percent of the company’s officers were promoted from within the company, and 50 percent of all officers started their careers as entry-level professionals.

Methodology

The biennial global study of nearly 500 companies and the resulting list were developed by Aon Hewitt , a global human resources consulting and outsourcing company, in partnership with The RBL Group, a strategic human resources and leadership systems advisory firm, and FORTUNE.

Winners were selected and ranked by a panel of independent judges based on criteria including strength of leadership practices and culture, examples of leader development on a global scale, alignment of business and leadership strategy, business performance, and company reputation.

This recognition comes on the heels of the announcement from Leadership Excellence magazine in October that General Mills topped its annual list of the “Best in Leadership Development.”

See the full list of the 25 Global Top Companies for Leaders by visiting CNNMoney.com.