Creating and filling a leadership pipeline is a common challenge across organizations, especially for C-suite positions. The company is very intentional about promoting internally to maintain its high retention and satisfaction rates, as well as company culture.

A small telegraph company was founded in the 19th century with the simple goal of creating an efficient communication system. However, this program was not as rigorously tied to the leadership capabilities as it could have been.Despite the launch of LEAD, the employee survey in fall 2014 showed that confidence in leadership at the company still needed to improve.

They designed and implemented the Haworth Leadership Institute (HLI), which included development programs for managers and leaders at all levels of the organization. Thus, in 2014, Harten and the HR team set out to design and launch a program to help them build these skills: The Aspiring Leader Program.