SHRM Acquires Linkage Inc., One of the Nation's Top Leadership Development Firms

​

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) announced yesterday that it has acquired Linkage Inc., a Boston-based global leadership development firm that focuses on advancing women and accelerating inclusion for executives, managers and organizations.

Linkage has a more than 30-year history of offering an array of leadership development trainings, assessments, business tools, analytics, and consulting and coaching services, as well as workshops and programs created specifically to help female leaders navigate workplace challenges. The firm also offers leadership development conferences, such as its annual Women in Leadership Institute, which this year will be held Nov. 1-4 in Orlando and virtually.

"We are thrilled to officially welcome Linkage Inc. as a part of SHRM," said Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, president and chief executive officer of SHRM. "This acquisition strengthens SHRM's position as the go-to global organization for all things work, workers and the workplace and will provide HR professionals with world-class leadership development, as well as critical resources to help navigate workplace challenges. Linkage brings with them best-in-class learning experiences from facilitators, coaches and consultants, along with tools for immediate application, resulting in measurable impact on their leaders and businesses."

As a result of this acquisition, SHRM members will gain access to members-only pricing for research-based leadership development programming designed to help them solve their organizations' talent challenges, including retention and advancement of female leaders. They also will have access to new tools and resources to build an actionable leadership development and inclusion strategy that will help drive talent goals and develop more inclusive leaders.

"Linkage is excited to start a new chapter in our evolution as we join forces with a leading organization that has a legacy of empowering people and workplaces," said Jennifer McCollum, CEO of Linkage Inc. "Linkage brings our 34 years of data, insights and experience on leadership and specifically advancing women and inclusion to the SHRM global community of 300,000-plus HR professionals and business executives. Together, we have enormous potential to expand our impact at a time when our organizations and our world need inclusive, purposeful leaders."

Through its history, Linkage has provided unique datasets, insights, innovative products and trainings to more than 1 million leaders, said McCollum, who will become a member of SHRM's executive leadership team. Prior to joining Linkage as CEO in 2018, McCollum oversaw the leadership assessment product portfolio at the Korn Ferry Hay Group and previously oversaw the leadership solutions business at CEB, now Gartner.

"We are excited to welcome Jennifer and her team to SHRM, where they will bring their complementary skill sets and proprietary services and tools, which will enhance SHRM's commitment to providing a full array of impactful DE&I and leadership offerings," said Nick Schacht, SHRM-SCP, SHRM's chief global development officer.