Excellence at Work (Brandon Hall Group)
Excellence at Work Podcast Episode 324: How Paylocity's Leading Advantage Program Is Redefining Leadership Pipeline Development
Why It Matters
Developing a robust internal leadership bench is critical for fast‑growing tech firms like Paylocity, where operational excellence directly impacts client experience and revenue. The episode shows how a structured, experiential development model can dramatically improve promotion rates and confidence, offering a replicable blueprint for organizations seeking to close leadership gaps and retain top talent in a competitive market.
Key Takeaways
- •Leading Advantage builds a practical, four‑month leadership pipeline.
- •63% earn promotions or expanded roles within a year.
- •Program combines on‑the‑job projects, coaching, and capstone presentations.
- •Retention reaches 90% with 4.8/5 learner satisfaction.
- •Leading Now offers ongoing courses reinforcing leadership skills year‑round.
Pulse Analysis
The Leading Advantage program at Paylocity tackles a critical gap in the operations workforce by turning high‑performing individual contributors into first‑time leaders. Structured as a four‑month, three‑phase journey—Leading Self, Leading Teams, and Leading Business—the curriculum blends classroom learning with on‑the‑job assignments, 360‑degree feedback, and a capstone showcase. Internal professional coaches, certified by ICF and Gallup, provide personalized guidance, while mentors and peer networks reinforce skill application. By embedding the experience directly within the implementation, tech support, benefits, and client services units, the program ensures relevance to Paylocity’s SaaS payroll and spend‑management platform.
The results speak loudly. Within twelve months, 63 % of graduates secured promotions or expanded responsibilities, while overall retention for participants sits at 90 % and learner sentiment scores average 4.8 out of 5. Pre‑and post‑program assessments reveal a 10 % boost in leadership confidence from both participants and their managers. A distinctive badge now appears in HR records, making talent instantly searchable for internal mobility. These outcomes translate directly into faster onboarding cycles, richer knowledge sharing, and a ready‑now leadership bench that drives Paylocity’s key performance indicators across its extensive client base.
Paylocity extends the learning curve through its Leading Now series, delivering five quarterly courses that reinforce core concepts such as change management, performance conversations, and business acumen. An alumni network facilitates mentorship and cross‑functional networking, keeping graduates engaged long after the capstone. For organizations seeking a scalable leadership development program, the model demonstrates how data‑driven talent identification, hands‑on practice, and continuous coaching can accelerate a talent pipeline while protecting employee engagement. As the HR technology sector faces rapid growth and a shrinking pool of seasoned managers, programs like Leading Advantage set a benchmark for building resilient, future‑ready leadership teams.
Episode Description
In this episode of the Brandon Hall Group™ Excellence at Work podcast, host Rachel Cooke, COO of Brandon Hall Group, sits down with Angela Ostermann, Senior Manager of Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness at Paylocity, to unpack what it really takes to build a high-performing leadership pipeline before people ever step into the role. Drawing on Paylocity's award-winning Leading Advantage program, which earned a Gold in Leadership and a Silver in Learning and Development from Brandon Hall Group, Angela brings a practitioner's lens to one of the most pressing challenges in organizational development today: turning high-potential individual contributors into confident, capable, and strategically aligned leaders.
Angela shares the philosophy behind Leading Advantage, a program purpose-built not for theory, but for real-world application. Designed specifically for Paylocity's operations group, the company's largest and most business-critical division, the program brings together high-performing ICs and prepares them for leadership through structured learning, on-the-job activities, professional coaching, and peer mentorship. The conversation also explores how deep business immersion, cross-functional collaboration, and ongoing iteration have made this program a genuine growth lever and not just a training initiative.
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