Assembling the Ingredients for Positive Change
An international organisation like Kellogg understands the need to handle change delicately. When preparing to launch a revolutionary, multi-million-pound change project, the Company called on Enthuse for support.
The client
A household name, Kellogg is the number one cereal company in the world. It manufactures, ships and sells thousands of product lines to almost 200 countries around the globe.
With technical teams worldwide, Kellogg Europe embarked on an ambitious “SKU to Market” project to implement new software that would streamline the process of bringing new or modified products to market – condensing 180 complex processes into one centralised and uniform procedure.
The challenge
Kellogg creates a new SKU – or stock keeping unit – for each new product, as well as for different promotional and alternative versions of existing lines.
Each SKU has a unique combination of data, including ingredients, recipe, allergens, packaging design and food safety regulations – often in several languages. All of this data must be recorded centrally and be easily accessible to thousands of individuals who rely on it to do their job.
Therefore, the process of bringing a new SKU to market involved a multitude of employees across various departments and territories.
Kellogg had identified SAP software that would simplify, regulate and streamline this complex set of processes. As with any kind of change – even positive ones, like this – careful planning is required, so we stepped in to support the three-year project and make employees feel part of this pivotal moment in the brand’s operational history.
The objective
The SKU to Market project’s principal objectives were about compliance, reliability and growth.
Ahead of its launch, Enthuse wanted every Kellogg team member who would use the new technology to feel enthusiastic and excited about this new way of working, so that the implementation would be positive and successful.
They also needed support post-launch, to maintain positivity about a new system in its infancy.
We aimed to make a complicated process simple by taking a strategic approach and implementing it through a series of thoughtful tactics.
The solution
Before each project begins, we host a communications workshop involving key stakeholders.
Successful change is always collaborative, so it’s vital to gain the engagement, buy-in and feedback of everyone involved. We’re the experts in change and communications, but we rely on our subject matter experts to give us the information needed to communicate that change.
We used existing motorsport-themed branding to roll out a series of pre-launch engagement events and communications across multiple channels, which included:
Lunch ‘n’ Learns – informal events inviting employees to browse project information on easel-mounted exhibition boards over tea and cake, standing up and being guided around the room, to avoid the negative “sit down and switch off” feel of corporate presentations
Monthly newsletter – to keep all audiences and stakeholders updated and maintain interest and awareness throughout a lengthy project
Leadership Presentations – delivered via Skype to engage senior leaders across Europe whose teams would be involved in working with the new programme and process
Employee training – to prevent an overly corporate feel, we used bunting, balloons and branded promo materials to set a fun and collaborative tone for sessions
60-second email bulletins – eye-catching and easily digestible updates sent to busy senior leaders who we knew didn’t have time to read lengthy updates or attend lots of presentations
Intranet portal – enabling everyone to access communications and training materials or contact the project team
Yammer updates – to celebrate successes and communicate project news through a series of posts on the Company’s internal social media channel
The go-live launch event continued the motorsport theme with branded cupcakes, traffic light balloons and a “route map” infographic displayed on pull up banners.
A launch video was created and emailed to all colleagues in Europe - regardless of their involvement with the new software - such was the scale and impact of the project.
Post-launch, we focused on listening, communicating and contributing to a process of continuous improvement, ensuring any bugs or issues were fixed or explained to maintain the general feeling of positivity and enthusiasm towards the new system.
We identified and engaged Super Users across Europe as the system’s ambassadors in each respective country, giving different markets access to a local expert who could train and support them in using the software. Super Users held regular surgeries, and we amplified many of their innovative ideas to other Super Users to benefit every market.
Throughout the project, we made sure to keep the project team engaged by celebrating their successes, updating their colleagues on the vital work the team was doing and even redecorating the project room with vivid, themed graphics to keep spirits high during a demanding project.
A crucial part of our communication strategy was to be realistic and open with employees once the SKU to Market software had gone live. No project of this scale, involving new technology, is ever 100% perfect, there is always a snagging list so, at this point, the messaging drew inspiration from communications calling for public patience and understanding during large infrastructure projects, in order to ask colleagues to give feedback - not criticism - about something that was brand new to everyone and would take time to bed-in and become business as usual.
The result
More than six months since the project became business as usual, it’s running successfully and is used daily by thousands of Kellogg employees across Europe.
Changing how we work is rarely easy, yet through active employee engagement and strategic and creative communications, we successfully supported a monumental change in Kellogg Europe’s working habits.
At the SKU to Market pre-launch event, a member of the Kellogg team said of the communications: “Isn’t this brilliant? It’s the best and most simple explanation I’ve seen for this complex process.”
European Senior Strategic Change Manager for Kellogg, Lisa Gill, said:
“It felt like we had to move mountains at times on [this] large-scale change programme for Kellogg Europe.
“The Enthuse team was instrumental in making it happen, and I really appreciated their skills and creativity in engaging our various audiences and stakeholders. I welcomed their strategic thinking in how they approached the project, producing professional communications that not only received positive feedback but helped to manage the reputation of the project and make the change stick.
“Implementing change can be hard enough, but it’s just as difficult in the months following go-live to keep users feeling enthusiastic while they adjust to new ways of working and to prepare stakeholders for the ‘noise’ they might hear while a few bumps in the road are sorted out.
“Enthuse helped us to not only engage with users but also to keep the project team feeling enthusiastic and proud about the difference they were making to the business – reminding them of the bigger picture. This was the first time I’d worked with Enthuse but it won’t be the last; I would always want to work in partnership with Enthuse on any change communication.”
The Enthuse difference
As with every Enthuse project, our role goes beyond communication. We engage individuals and harness the benefits of effective communication to engender industry-leading change successfully.
By understanding the user experience, we collaborated closely with employees across Europe to introduce a system that has dramatically improved how Kellogg operates as a business.
Antonio Mansilla, who was the Kellogg project lead for the SKU to Market programme, said:
“I know internal communication is important, but I have to admit I was not believing in the real power of it until I worked with Andrea [from Enthuse] in the SKU to Market project.
“To put it simply, we would not have succeeded in this multimillion [pound] programme if it weren’t for her contribution.”
If you need support establishing or improving communications within your business, whether it’s for general purposes or a specific project, we’re here to help. Contact us on 07812 343310 or andrea.law@enthuse-comms.co.uk and let’s talk.