As more and more people head back to the office, we’re seeing more and more conversations about the future of work. Hershey wanted to make sure their purpose, of making more moments of goodness, supported efforts to shape, rebuild and refine each employee’s experience of work. Like so many organisations, this simply couldn’t be a one size fits all approach because different employee groups had been impacted very differently by the pandemic.
As employees from the corporate centre began to return to the office, they wanted to examine the future of flexible working, building on the successes of remote working. They also wanted to tackle what had become an unhealthy meeting culture, with a new agile approach blending focused and collaborative days.
This was new territory. It was vital to land the idea that it was OK to make mistakes, learn as you go and have those slightly awkward conversations around what’s working and what needs to work harder. We reset the culture around meetings, levelling the playing field for those in the office and those working remotely. We clarified meeting etiquette and gave employees tiles to help them speak up when a meeting wasn’t working, backed up by support and one-to-one discussion guides.
Hershey’s sales, delivery and manufacturing teams had been physically present right through Covid – so the increased focus on health and safety was at the top their agenda. We also wanted to thank colleagues for their resilience and determination and open up conversations about how Hershey could flex in different, but meaningful, ways for all employees, even those theoretically tied to the production line.
We were so lucky to go on this incredible journey with Hershey. When we launched their purpose in 2020, we knew it would define them as a business. What we couldn’t know was just how important that purpose would become – a cultural anchor that would steady the ship against everything 2020 and 2021 threw at the business and their amazingly dedicated team.
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Hattie Roche
Co-Managing Director and Strategy Chief
Carol Whitworth
Founder / Inspiration & Innovation Director
