Bill Conaty Biography

Bill Conaty leaves behind a firm that owes much of its worldwide success to the top-notch human resources operation he built and directed for more than 14 years. He has long been regarded as a top expert in his industry, having served as senior vice president for Human Resources at GE from 1993 until 2007. One of his most notable accomplishments was effectively handling the CEO succession and transition from the iconic Jack Welch to Jeff Immelt, GE's current Chairman, and CEO. Bill Conaty worked at General Electric throughout his whole career. He graduated from Bryant University in Rhode Island with a bachelor's degree. He was born in Binghamton, New York. He had managerial positions in a number of GE divisions, including Aerospace, Rail, and Aircraft Engines, after graduating from a three-year management school at GE and serving in the military. He was named a company executive in 1990 and promoted to vice president of Human Resources at GE Aircraft Engines. Jack Welch promoted him to senior vice president of Corporate Human Resources three years later, having responsibility for approximately 320,000 workers globally. For eight years, he worked for Welch, and for six years, he worked for Jeff Immelt. GE is not just one of the world's largest and most diverse industrial conglomerates, but also one of the most well-known. On Bill's watch, Fortune magazine rated GE the World's Most Respected Company seven times in the previous 10 years. In addition, Fortune placed GE first in the world for creating world-class leaders. Bill Conaty received the award for Human Resources Executive of the Year in 2004. Human Resource Executive magazine's cover story praised his management of one of the century's most critical CEO succession problems. BusinessWeek proclaimed GE to have the most talent-rich management team, thanks in large part to the management development and training initiatives Bill built. In a recent article in the same publication, he was lauded for transforming a department that is frequently viewed as a support role into a high-level business partner. Bill's former employer, Jack Welch, describes him as "amazing," saying he has gained great trust at all levels. The union members hold him in the same regard as the senior management. Bill passed the top post to a long-time GE HR colleague in 2007 but stayed on to complete another round of successful National Labor talks with GE's unions. Bill served on the Sacred Heart University Board of Trustees and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in May 2010. He is presently a member of the Board of Trustees of his alma school, Bryant University. He also serves on the Advisory Board of Cornell University's Center for Advanced HR Studies, where the William J. Conaty Chair in Human Resources was recently endowed in his honor. He became a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources in November 1996, was chosen Chairman in February 2001, and was designated Distinguished Fellow, the highest distinction, in November 2007. Bill is also a member of the Personnel Roundtable and the HR Policy Association, where he served as Chairman from 2001 to 2007. Bill started his own consulting firm, Conaty Consulting LLC when he retired. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, P&G, Dell, Boeing, Goodyear, LG Electronics, Maersk, and numerous more Fortune 100 firms are among his clients. Hewitt Associates' Board of Directors and as an international leader in HR, he is also active on the speaking circuit. Bill is co-authoring The Talent Masters with Ram Charan, which will be released by Random House later this year. Bill has two children with his wife Sue. Talent management convention: The four key leadership development building blocks that any organization must address to guarantee a strong pipeline and succession plan for the future are acquiring, developing, evaluating, and keeping world-class talents.

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