Advantage Success Case: Chiquita Brands International
What You Need: Help the frontline work smarter.
The real make or break of your business happens on the frontlines. We ensure that your frontline managers and employees understand their role in making your business soar. Agile, aligned, and committed to excellence, your teams will be the best you’ve ever seen.
Issues You’re Facing
- People on the frontlines don’t understand their role
- Lots of silos, teams don’t collaborate
- Limited business acumen
- No way to cascade a consistent message
How We Can Help
- Promote the brand
- Align culture around company vision and create buy-in for change
- Increase team and inter-divisional collaboration
- Develop industry knowledge and skill
- Create consistent management practices
- Help individuals clarify and move toward personal goals
ADVANTAGE SOLUTIONS: The Advantage WaySM, Custom Learning Map® Modules, Custom e-Learning Modules
It’s Not Just ‘Chiquita Banana’ Anymore
What’s the first step when you need to align leaders across the organization around a new way of thinking? Follow the lead of Chiquita Brands International as they began the evolution from ‘banana company’ to ‘fresh consumer products company.’
Challenge
Chiquita is one of the world’s most recognized brands. When executive leaders determined that it was time to evolve from a “banana company” to a “fresh consumer products company,” there was a clear need to elevate the level of talent and leadership capabilities of Chiquita’s 26,000 employees in 27 countries.
Concurrent with the need to communicate a new strategy, Chiquita was introducing a new performance management process called Perform to Grow. The process needed to become a foundational component of the company’s redefinition and strategic shift. Chiquita’s Director of Talent Management said, “We needed an efficient, clear way to create organizational alignment around the strategy and connect these strategic shifts with the shifts that individuals needed to make in their performance.”
Success Solution
Advantage Partner Peg Ruppert teamed up with thought leader Root Learning® to create the solution. Two custom Learning Map® modules visually represented Chiquita’s new strategy and performance management process. The map-based business acumen training gave leaders and frontline contributors around the world a deep understanding of the business, the new performance management process, and their own roles in the company’s upcoming strategy shift.
Accompanying e-learning was designed to reach geographically dispersed employees. This was Chiquita’s first foray into the world of electronic learning. In addition to allowing employees to practice the tools and steps within Perform to Grow, the online modules featured an interactive toolkit. Because of Chiquita’s global employee base — with branches in Central America, Asia, and Eastern Europe — the modules were offered on CD to eliminate the need for fast Internet connections. As a result, the learning cascaded both the company’s strategic shift and Perform to Grow process worldwide.
A learner survey revealed great results. Participants reported a significant boost in business acumen, with a much better understanding of industry trends and how Chiquita could grow (89%), and “how my work contributes to Chiquita’s success.” A resounding 91% said that the sessions helped them understand changes required by the new performance management process. The Director of Talent Management said it best: Participants described the value of this project as nothing short of “fantastic.”