Kramp

Kramp is a global technical wholesaler in the agricultural sector. The company asked Involve for support in rolling out a new strategy and core values for the organisation.

Question

Kramp asked Involve for support in rolling out the Kramp Way, the company’s strategy and core values. Kramp was at a key point in its history. Following rapid international growth in an increasingly competitive market, there was a need for a greater alignment. Not just by way of common strategic objectives and priorities, but also through the development of common values that would actually operate as guidance for the behaviour of the workforce.

Approach

We formed a steering group with the CEO and HR and Communication managers, supported by Involve, for the effective management of this programme.  This meant that the programme was firmly anchored from the outset, releasing strength for its execution.

The approach that we developed was based in part on interviews with board members, other senior directors and department heads as well as an insight into the situation from the staff perspective. This made it possible for their communications to align seamlessly with the daily reality of people involved in the primary process.

Our approach was divided into five stages.

• Developing an inspirational common narrative about the Kramp Way with the organisation’s management.
• An international kick-off, where senior management could take ownership of the strategy and core values and prepare themselves for spreading that narrative.
• Mobilising other managerial staff and all teams through tailored sessions where employees became acquainted with the Kramp Way and started translating it into their day-to-day work.
• Kick-down after six months to collate feedback on the sessions that had been provided, share and evaluate experiences so that the process could then be speeded up.
• Systematically safeguarding the strategy and core values in day-to-day work, in all plans, projects and decisions, and also in behaviour.

While these five steps were ongoing, we enhanced internal communication with managers and staff. From then on, managers would be better briefed so as to be able to do their communication work. And the change process was rendered visible in internal media by continually stressing the strategic choices and the application of the core values in practice.

We developed a range of communication resources and tools to support the five stages in this programme, such as:

• visualising the total narrative of the Kramp Way in the form of a learning map. A visualisation like this gives everyone the ability to link the narrative to their own work and projects. The narrative also paid a good deal of attention to providing evidence;
• an online Managers’ Guide to support the managers in their important job during the rollout through the entire organisation. The Managers’ Guide contained the following elements:
• • the overall Kramp Way narrative in text;
  • a tailored introductory narrative in text and image;
  • the visualisation, including text explanations of every element;
  • a total programme for the rollout of all elements, with a range of tailored options so that the template for meetings and team sessions could be adjusted to the specific needs of the teams;
  • resources for translating the Kramp Way at every level into concrete action and implications, which would then be properly safeguarded.

Result

The result of this process is that the top 100 managers now feel a collective responsibility for implementing, safeguarding and complying with the Kramp Way. And that they will manage and provide direction to their departments and teams on the basis of the strategy and core values, which will henceforth form the clear framework for all day-to-day decisions. Employees are now fully familiar with the strategy and core values and make a concrete contribution, with their departmental colleagues, towards achieving the strategic objectives and continuing to develop the desired culture.