Healing the climate, winning back clients, transforming leadership

How to realign people, relationships and performance in a high-pressure FMCG environment

Role / department

CEO, Function Directors, Managers, Sales & Trade Marketing teams

Industry

FMCG

Areas of intervention

Strategic relational dynamics · Strategic leadership · Assertive and decisive communication

THE CLIENT

International FMCG company with:
1,175 employees, 2 production sites, a presence in 110 countries and a structure spanning 4 reporting levels (CEO, Function Directors, Managers, Sales & Trade Marketing teams)

Starting point

The organisation was going through a period of strong internal tension, with a direct impact on performance and sales results.

The main issues identified were:

an authoritarian leadership style with little focus on developing talent
a significant rise in internal demotivation
widespread lack of accountability among managers
overly aggressive internal competition

This had led to:

loss of trust in leadership
a deteriorating company climate
weaker relationships with strategic clients
a drop in sales performance

The challenge

The aims of the intervention were to:

⁰¹Heal a badly damaged organisational climate

⁰²Rebuild trust in leadership

⁰³Win back relationships and volumes with strategic clients

⁰⁴Develop a more effective and sustainable leadership style

⁰⁵Reignite people’s motivation, accountability and engagement

The 6unico! journey

1. Analysis of the organisational context

reading the internal dynamics between reporting levels
analysing leadership styles and internal interactions
identifying critical relational and decision-making knots

2. Leadership intervention

evolving the management style from directive to more aware and people-centred
developing the ability to bring out talent
realigning role, responsibility and behaviour

3. Work on relational dynamics

managing internal tensions and conflicts
reducing destructive competition
rebuilding a collaborative climate

4. Strengthening communication

improving the quality of internal conversations
developing greater clarity and intent in communication
realigning management communication with strategic goals

The transformation

01.

Leadership

a shift from an authoritarian style to a more mature and aware leadership
greater focus on developing talent

02.

Climate and people

trust in management restored
higher motivation and engagement

03.

Internal and external relationships

better team dynamics
stronger relationships with key clients

The results

Relationships with strategic clients won back
Previously delisted SKUs reinstated
Onboarding of 7 new talents
A significant rise in internal motivation and commitment to company values
A tangible evolution in the management’s leadership style

Conclusion

Through an integrated intervention on leadership, relationships and communication, the company turned a period of serious internal difficulty into an opportunity for a fresh start.

The work restored trust, realigned people with the goals and brought the organisation back to a level of effectiveness and impact consistent with its market ambitions.

Healing the climate, winning back clients, transforming leadership