Humble Case Study: KraftHeinz
Creating a leadership development programme fit for the future
Solving the Challenge
KraftHeinz had two goals in mind when they approached us: to demonstrate the power of Agile to solve real business challenges and to develop their new cohort of future leaders.
We created a brand new leadership development programme that gave KraftHeinz’s future leaders the ability to solve a range of business challenges while also providing a platform for talent to experience new leadership behaviours.
The Humble Approach
Inspired by an iterative design approach, together with KraftHeinz, we worked collaboratively as a team to co-design their brand new leadership development programme. The result was a 6-month experience where employees would be working in multidisciplinary Agile teams across multiple timezones. Teams also appointed their own Team Lead/Facilitator, a role designed to guide the team and act as a focal point for decision making. We then invited Teams to think of disruptive ideas that would help solve challenges across a range of key themes.
Programme Timeline
We then delivered a series of workshops to each team teaching core Agile concepts, explaining the programme structure and making sure they were ready to begin working on their ideas using a custom Agile method.
Supported by a Senior leader acting in the role of Team mentor, mentors provided feedback, encouragement and access to their networks in order to ensure the teams were as successful as possible. Team Leads/Facilitators were also given separate training sessions to help them create a high performing atmosphere. Examples included facilitation masterclasses, having difficult conversations, applying test and learn practices, continuous improvement techniques and more.
This was all supplemented by regular mentoring, coaching sessions and team clinics to ensure there was sufficient proactive support available to all participants.
The Results
So far, numerous teams, totalling over 2800 employees worldwide have successfully completed the programme. One of the biggest results has been how soon teams have been able to demonstrate tangible business changes. On average, this has now accelerated to within 4-6 months of a team starting. A significant improvement for KraftHeinz.
More importantly, participants get to experience Agile Leadership in practice. Not only the Team Leads/Facilitators, but also the rest of the team. From knowing what it takes to lead a cross-functional team to creating an atmosphere that leads to high performance, participants leave the programme with a deeper understanding of leading with Agility
Finally, this has all led to increased interest and desire to adopt Agile Leadership across the organisation. Whether it’s Finance departments in Amsterdam or Innovation teams in London, there is a growing realisation that Agile Leadership can act as the enabler for change while fulfilling KraftHeinz’s value of “We dare to do better every day.”
The Response
“Thank you Humble Associates for all the support, care, and commitment you’ve provided us throughout the year. It’s been two cycles already that we have grown and evolved our program together. We’re very very proud of what the teams have accomplished this year.”
