MetLife recognized that to be a more agile, global company, it needed to develop a pipeline of future leaders who could work across geographies and business functions, and also contribute diversity in gender, ethnic and racial backgrounds and global experiences.

The Global Leadership Development Program (GLDP) program is a fast-track global program designed to build a pipeline of future leaders who are recent MBA graduates with three to five years of experience. We place great emphasis on ensuring that female and ethnically and racially diverse talent is included in the program. We achieve this through innovative third party partnerships and on-campus relationship management programs. The structure of the program involves three rotational assignments over five years across two regions and at least two functions or businesses.  Of the rotational assignments, 40 percent are located in 15 countries outside the U.S. Participants are developed through action learning, dedicated development offerings and mentorship. Currently, 40 percent of the participants in our GLDP program are female and 37 percent are non-US residents.

Since GLDP was launched in 2013, 64 participants have been hired. Of those, 45 percent were female and 84 percent were ethnically or racially diverse.

Elizabeth Nieto