Enabling Culture
Driving Global Production Outputs and Alignment Through Employee-Led Culture in Manufacturing
In response to operational fragmentation across 30 locations in 15 countries, which led to inconsistent production output, communication issues, and reporting challenges, we implemented a site-driven, culture-based approach to deepen engagement. This work included facilitating workshops where employees co-created the Group’s Vision, Mission, and Values (VMV), which were then integrated into local manufacturing targets and further embedded through bespoke, values-led leadership development and systemic coaching.
Employee surveys reflected the degree to which work lives were transformed—with significant jumps in “feeling connected to the company’s mission” and “collaboration and accountability”. Employees felt this renewed sense of purpose improved daily operations targets, reduced manufacturing downtime, and consistently hit production targets.
Results:
Reduced manufacturing downtime, improved production consistency, 30% improvement in cross-functional collaboration scores across 15 countries, and increased employee experience ratings – all driving business growth.
Scaling, Building Capacity and Capabilities
Building Leadership Capacity and Capabilities to Support Scaling in an Irish SME
In preparation of significant scaling an Irish SME, SP Consulting was engaged to develop their growth capabilities and infrastructure, further enhance creativity and sustain delivery excellence.
Following a discovery sprint to assess as-is capabilities and meet the team where they were at, we designed a bespoke approach focused on enhancing leadership capacity and capabilities. This was achieved through a comprehensive program involving the design and embedding of agile processes and structures one-on-one and team coaching, leadership development workshops.
We introduced a tailored capability-building framework that equipped senior leaders to handle increased responsibility and decision-making, aligning personal development with the company’s strategic goals. The initiative included coaching circles that fostered collaboration, innovation, and accountability. A key element of the program was the development of talent management strategies, empowering leaders to more effectively support their teams and address real-world challenges as they arose.
Leaders gained the confidence and capabilities to focus on strategic priorities, while also being better equipped to coach their teams with clearer career progression paths and personal development opportunities. Leaders became more effective at coaching and mentoring their teams, improving collaboration and fostering a growth-oriented culture that helped employees at all levels to thrive.
Results:
Improved organisational design strengthened foundation for achieving the company’s growth targets and streamlined decision making and workflows, enhanced leadership ability to manage rapid business growth with agility, supported by a more collaborative organisational culture, and as a result, the executive team was able to shift their focus from day-to-day operations to strategic growth, driving productivity and organisational clarity.
Career Development – Global Multinational in Healthcare
Empowering EMEA EPs to Thrive in a Digital-First Culture
SP Consulting was invited to lead a dynamic and interactive development session for the EMEA Emerging Professionals (EPs) of a global leader in healthcare. Following a period of significant restructuring and organisational change, our expertise was leveraged to re-launch the EP program and empower the emerging leaders with the tools to take ownership of their career paths, enhance personal branding, and embrace AI as a critical element of their development journey.
The session was designed to deliver an online, live learning experience that equipped participants with actionable insights on career development, networking best practices, and strategies for self-directed growth beyond their day-to-day roles. Participants were introduced to the concept of leveraging AI as a learning partner, reinforcing the value of self-directed daily learning and the company’s new Digital Mindset core competencies.
Outcomes:
Over 100 EPs gained practical tools for personal branding, self-directed learning, and networking, empowering them to take proactive steps in their career growth. The re-launch of the EP program and network provided a renewed sense of community and purpose, driving a stronger commitment to career growth and reinforcing a culture of empowerment and accountability within the organisation.
AI Enablement – global drinks manufacturer
Exploring the Potential of AI – and HR’s Potential in leading AI for the organisation
SP Consulting was invited to design and deliver a strategic HR team session for the Ireland business, focused on “Exploring the Potential of AI”. As part of the manufacturer’s 2024 global target to unlock data and AI capabilities, the session aimed to educate and empower the HR team on the latest breakthroughs in AI and data insights, addressing critical areas such as trust, transparency, risk, governance, efficiency and value creation opportunities.
The HR team, positioned at the heart of digital transformation, had a unique opportunity to contribute significantly to the Irish business’ data and AI journey. Through this session, we focused on how HR could lead by example, piloting data and AI initiatives within their own function to drive broader organisational adoption.
The session was designed around three of HR’s most pressing challenges:
- Cross-Functional Data Alignment: We addressed the pain point of siloed analytics by exploring how AI could unlock insights across functions, breaking down barriers to deliver organisation-wide data alignment.
- Building Human Skills for AI Integration: We focused on developing critical human skills—such as agility, curiosity, critical thinking, resilience, and collaboration—needed to foster an entrepreneurial, ‘what if’ mindset that complements AI innovation.
- Developing Data, Digital, and AI Proficiency: We helped the team reimagine data analytics potential, highlighting how building AI capabilities could enhance reporting, forecasting, and decision-making.
Outcomes:
The HR team left the session with a clearer understanding of AI’s role in transforming their function and a roadmap for piloting AI initiatives within HR and cross-functionally. The session empowered the HR team to lead AI capability building, enhancing strategic data insights, and fostering a culture of innovation, agility, and collaboration essential to navigating the future of work.
People Strategy Development and Execution
Developing and Executing a Comprehensive People Strategy at a Global Multinational FMCG
To meet rapidly evolving business targets amid significant market volatility, we partnered with the Senior Leadership Team to develop and execute a responsive People Plan and strengthen agile leadership capabilities.
Specialist People, Culture, and Change expertise was needed to develop and deliver a comprehensive program that leveraged cutting-edge People practices to enhance leadership and the employee experience (EX) across the talent lifecycle, and to drive the culture shift required for agile market and customer experience (CX) strategies.
Stakeholder engagement was critical to the success of this multi-stage strategy. We worked closely with the Executive Leadership Team, business unit leaders, HR teams, and the wider retail network to move from consensus to commitment and to align HR and commercial priorities. This collaborative approach to developing and implementing the People Plan and Leadership Excellence addressed the unique needs of each business unit while navigating competing priorities to achieve corporate, regional, and national targets.
Employees experienced more engaged and supportive leadership, with leaders better equipped to guide them through strategic challenges and market shifts. Throughout key moments in the employee lifecycle—from hiring and onboarding to career progression—employees benefited from a more inclusive values-based culture, clearer direction, more collaborative working environments, and skills building that aligned with the company’s evolving strategy. This led to greater agility, ownership in their roles, and an increased sense of purpose, driving better decision making as well as greater engagement and job satisfaction.
Results:
The People Plan supported the delivery of challenging business objectives in an increasingly competitive market, leading to a sustainable increase in market share and improved Customer and Employee Experiences (EX and CX).
Start-Up Leadership Team Facilitation
Accelerating Business Growth for a Tech Start-Up
SP Consulting were invited to facilitate a team development session for the leadership team of a cutting-edge tech start up. The objective of the session was for the team to define their purpose, values, get to know each other better and agree ways of working to gain momentum in enabling their new strategy.
The session included the establishment of a team charter based on the team’s assessment of their individual and collective strengths to inform the team’s optimal way of working.
Outcomes:
The leadership team gained a deeper awareness of their individual strengths and a clearer understanding of how their collective strengths contribute to the team’s overall effectiveness.
By establishing Team Norms and Charter, the team became more aligned and cohesive, enabling them to execute their business development strategy more efficiently. As a result, the start-up achieved stretch targets ahead of schedule, building a stronger client base faster than anticipated.
HR Transformation
Driving HR Transformation to Support Hyper-Growth in Professional Services
To meet its strategic objective of a 50% workforce increase within an 18 month period, a top 5 professional services firm needed to significantly realign its HR function with the company’s ambitious growth goals.
In direct partnership with the HR leadership, we appointed and rebuilt the HR leadership team, led the redesign of the HR operating model, implemented a fit-for-purpose talent acquisition process and realigned talent strategies, and designed bespoke HR leadership and mentoring programs.
To enable rapid change and sustain long-term growth, we launched a people-first change program focused on redefining HR’s purpose, remit and capabilities, thus re-establishing solid foundations to enable true alignment with business outcomes and positioning HR as a strategic transformation agent within the firm.
As a result, as the workforce doubled, employees benefitted from more effective and supportive culture and leadership, with better-defined career development pathways and more personalised ongoing development support. Engagement levels increased as they experienced clearer links between their roles and the company’s strategic goals, fostering deeper levels of ownership and contribution to the firm’s success. The HR function became a driving force for talent optimisation and leadership development, equipping the company with the scale of future-ready leaders needed for overall organisational growth.
Results:
A 50% workforce increase, +10% increase in EX scores, a fit-for-purpose HR framework built for sustained growth and a revitalised HR leadership team delivering new standards of excellence.
Organisational Transformation Success
Driving Organisational Transformation Success at a national airline
During a period of significant organisational and functional transformation, SP Consulting were invited to design and deliver a systemic-based coaching program to enable transformation success through a comprehensive program of change leadership development.
This project was executed through two (2) phases. Phase 1: Transformation Readiness involved group coaching sessions to build self-awareness and collective leadership, focusing on identifying change blockers and cultivating a transformation-ready mindset. This phase improved team confidence, welcoming resistance to change, and opened new avenues for cross-functional collaboration and partnership.
Phase 2: Transformation Mindset applied systemic coaching principles of outside-in and future-back, diagnosing current practices and behaviours that hindered progress toward the organisation’s Purpose, Vision, Mission, and Values (PVMV). The team co-created a comprehensive stakeholder engagement plan that enabled the culture shift needed to embrace change. As a result, the HR team developed enhanced delivery capabilities, increasing the buy-in and agility of change execution across the organisation.
Employees experienced better equipped and more supportive leadership during significant change. The HR team experienced enhanced cross-functional collaboration, stronger accountability, and clearer alignment with strategic goals. This not only reduced stress and resistance, but also empowered the team to navigate the transformation with confidence.
Results:
A standout achievement was HR’s adoption of a co-creation ethos, which led to solution breakthroughs, unlocking new efficiencies and HR providing more value-added support to the business. This approach strengthened collaboration within the HR team, enhanced leadership capabilities, and fostered a culture of shared accountability, positioning HR as a key driver of transformation.