To become the world's most respected service brand and be counted among the top 10 most respected companies in the world.
There are a number of lines of business specific management development programmes. American Express also operate a number of standard organisational leadership development modules that are all available on line e.g. Appraisal process Talent Discussion Authentic Leadership Situational Leadership. They have a strong organisational culture of mentoring and coaching and they also strongly encourage leadership sponsorship. They work with a number of external suppliers both large and small as and when they feel a leader would benefit from this external view and perspective. Two of their Employee Networks have introduced a reverse mentoring scheme which has been highly successful with over 98% of mentors and mentees confirming that the scheme has met their expectations and needs.
American Express has chosen to highlight a leadership development programme that they have introduced this year. They believe it is a really clear and demonstrable way of showing how creative their leaders are, how committed they are to learning from the best and sharing best practice and how as an organisation American Express ensure they give their leaders and therefore all of employees the tools they need to do the best job possible despite the constraints imposed by the external environment. This year American Express have introduced a global leadership development programme called 'Leadership Insights'. This programme is a series of real experiences and real stories from American Express Leaders who are considered to be the best. American Express is therefore able to spread and share best practice right across the organisation on a real time basis.
All lines of business and or staff groups operate some form of formalised reward and recognition. It is also important that American Express recognise that employee recognition is always top priority in their organisation and this is highlighted further in times when financial recognition and reward is limited to some extent by the pressures of the external environment. They have ensured that all of their leaders and colleagues understand and are committed to the need to reward and recognise in a variety of ways: Personal Recognition, in the form of a phone call, handwritten note, or quick e-mail acknowledging accomplishments, efforts and a job well done by the individual leader. Endorse specific behaviours authentically, catch the employees doing something right and take the time to acknowledge it spontaneously and frequently. Share the successes of the employees with the senior leadership team by copying the employee and the senior leader on examples of exemplary leadership, business results, and or customer feedback. Have the senior leader follow-up with a personal note of congratulations to the employee. Spotlight great work at team meetings, forums, etc. by asking project leads to share their work with the broader team. Recognise employees by having them cross-train, work on new projects or learn other parts of the business.