Leading with Impact at Danone Nutricia

Creating a highly effective continuous improvement cycle

When infant formula manufacturer Danone Nutricia wanted to equip future leaders for success, they knew learning was part of the solution.

Turning to Upskills to design a tailor-made leadership experience which aligns with Danone’s processes, policies and goals was key, and the process of understanding what was required was unpacked in several co-design workshops around the curriculum. The result was ‘Leading with Impact’, a course with a unique Danone flavour including guest learning from key people across the business: HR, Production, and Senior Leadership.

The course mapped to a Level 3 NZQA Leadership qualification in partnership with Service IQ Te Pukenga.

Highlights

Danone Learning Manager, Operations Justine Slattery has several highlights, but one stands out for her:

“We had one person who was quite reserved and shy and not feeling comfortable with colleagues that he doesn’t work with often. But the effort he has put into the full programme and commitment and dedication through the assessments and project presentation is absolutely outstanding,” says Justine. “Seeing him at graduation was very moving because the rest of the team in his group helped him and recognised his journey.”

It’s individual stories like this that shine, but also the programme’s contribution to the ‘one team, one culture’ approach at Danone.

Undertaking learning in small groups, Justine says the group format provided extra wins along the way, with participants from the lab, dispatch and production learning alongside each other.

“We took advantage of the group format, sharing views of different teams so that participants got a diversity of perspective.” Teambuilding via group learning strengthened relationships along the way.

One team, one culture

Bringing the programme to the Balcutha site has ensured the inclusion and alignment of the Southland site with the Auckland team so that everyone is on the same page. “We didn’t want the Balcutha team to miss out on this learning opportunity,” says Upskills General Manager Janeke Fourie,” so we worked hard to bring the leadership learning experience to Balclutha.”

Stepping forward into leadership

From the Auckland cohort, there have been four promotions for participants.

As Justine says, the programme gave people the confidence to step forward into leadership roles. “So for them to be successful when the opportunities arose and have the confidence to apply and then get the job it’s definitely a success story.”

A great example of this is AJ Gounder who is now Line Shift Lead for the nightshift team. AJ says her standout learning was around the concept of a growth mindset, for her and also leading this out with her team. “It’s been just six months, and I see operators coming to me with suggestions on how to improve our work system,” AJ shares. “They are more proactive, engaged, and willing to provide feedback. This has created a positive ripple effect, fostering a culture of safety and trust within the team.”

Innovation and problem-solving

Danone Nutricia is no stranger to innovation – it’s in the company’s DNA – dating back to the 1900s when Founder Isaac Carusso created yoghurt to soothe intestinal issues amongst the Spanish population. And so strengthening problem-solving culture from the factory floor up was a key focus for the programme. “There is a big focus on problem-solving in our industry – it’s a crucial skill,” identifies Justine. “For simple continuous improvement skills to be understood, put into practice and then positively influencing with their problem-solving mindset; it has had a massive impact at Danone.”

Senior leader visibility and support for the learning was important from start to finish. Leaders all attended project presentations and were struck by the improvement in participants’ problem-solving mindset.

The legacy of the learning is a group of champions. “We have problem-solving advocates and moving forward to new ways of working we have this approach every step of the way in every role. It creates a highly effective continuous improvement cycle,” notes Justine.

Self-assessment from the group confirms manager feedback: Most participants feel considerably more confident across different aspects of leadership:

Danone leadership confidence pie chart