Humble Case Study: KraftHeinz
Leveraging Agile to deliver real Business Change
Solving the Challenge
KraftHeinz had two goals in mind when they approached us: to demonstrate the power of Agile to solve real non-tech challenges and to create a platform to develop their new cohort of future leaders.
We created a brand new talent programme that gave KraftHeinz’s future leaders the ability to solve challenges that ranged from increasing sustainability, improved ESG outcomes and even improvements to product innovation, achieving results KraftHeinz could only dream of.
The Humble Approach
Inspired by an iterative design approach, together with KraftHeinz, we worked collaboratively as a team to co-design their brand new talent programme. The result was a 6-month programme where employees would be working in multidisciplinary Agile teams across multiple timezones. To start with we 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, leaders provided feedback, encouragement and access to their networks in order to ensure the teams were as effective as possible. We supplemented this with regular coaching and mentoring, alongside coaching sessions and team clinics to ensure there was sufficient proactive support available to the team.
The Results
So far, numerous teams, totalling over 2800 employees worldwide have successfully completed the programme. Between them they have delivered new initiatives ranging from a mentoring programme for female leaders to a laptop donation scheme for charities and non-profits.
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 the business.
The wider cultural impact has been increased interest and desire to adopt Agile across the organisation. Whether it’s Finance departments in Amsterdam or Innovation teams in London, there is a growing realisation that Agile can act as the enabler for change while fulfilling KraftHeinz’s value of “We dare to do better every day.”
KraftHeinz now recognises the value of Agile ways of working so much more, they are now on a long-term journey of change investing in new team structures, training and other efforts in order
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.”
