Holistic leadership development 

The GIBS Company-specific Programmes (CSP) approach is one of holistic leadership development.

Learning interventions that deliver Return on Learning Investment (ROLI) must be carefully designed to:

• support the strategic intent of the partner organisation, and
• focus on developing and refining the appropriate knowledge, skills and behavioural values at the organisational, business unit, functional, team and personal level.

To this end, GIBS follows the following value chain of engagement:

• Client engagement and thought leadership: As learning professionals with access to the most current research, international communities of practice and experience from various sectors, we partner with clients to disseminate information and knowledge. In addition, GIBS presents an annual Human Resource Development conference (HRD) to learning practitioners to create networks of learning professionals for our partner clients. Leading leadership experts are engaged. Recent guests included:
  •  Marshall Goldsmith (Leading author, ranked 11th in the world as thought leader), and
  • Nina Dankfort-Nevel, General Electric Co's chief learning officer (CLO) for Asia
  These activities supplement our business development activities.

• Consultation and needs analysis: Any training intervention must be aligned to the present and future business strategy of the partner organisation. These needs may be divergent at the organisational, business unit or personal level. This information is obtained from in-depth interviews and focus groups by the GIBS CSP senior learning design managers and GIBS faculty. It is at this stage that core outcomes are also agreed upon for applied action learning. At this stage, line managers’ support is also sought, based on the importance they play in sustaining learning and giving feedback based on learning transfer theory.

“We believe in a partnership concept and work closely with our clients to ensure that programmes are customised appropriately. Our emphasis is on value. The programmes we design with our partners must add value to the participants, their divisions, and the organisation as a whole. This is not the time to be cutting back on training; rather it is a time to invest in building the leadership talent who will add value today and tomorrow.”
Professor Karl Hofmeyr (Former Director, CSP, GIBS)


Renowned investigative journalist Jacques Pauw talks to
executive delegates at Vlakplaas, a former death camp.

• Programme design: GIBS CSP applies its internal filtering/ levels process to propose a learning intervention that includes duration, faculty, level of internationalisation, the delivery plan, use of technology, use of assessments and supporting experiences to deliver the learning outcomes.