Boosting Employee Experience and Manufacturing Excellence

THE SITUATION

A global manufacturing company with approximately 12,000 employees, Ingredion was looking to improve the culture and employee experience at key manufacturing sites across North America. Recognizing the critical link between employee satisfaction and business performance, the company’s leadership team embarked on a comprehensive initiative to improve the environment at one of its largest plants.

WHAT WE DID

Blue Beyond consultants kicked off the first phase of the project with an extensive listening tour, engaging 26% of the plant’s workforce. This deep dive involved conducting 15 stakeholder interviews and facilitating 10 focus groups, spanning every shift and worker type to ensure a holistic understanding of the employees’ experiences. Their aim? They wanted to distill the needs of plant supervisors and workers and what they value most. 

Taking this hands-on approach helped the Blue Beyond team develop a comprehensive findings report that highlighted key themes around the plant’s optimal state and the barriers hindering high performance. Crucially, it outlined recommended focus areas poised to significantly enhance the employee experience. Seeing workers’ feedback distilled into actionable insights gave the leadership team a clear understanding of what workers value most and clear direction on how to proceed. 

 

 

Forging a Path Forward Together

The next step was to design and facilitate five co-creation sessions that brought together Ingredion plant leaders and employees in a collaborative environment. Reflecting on the insights gathered, session attendees worked together to develop potential solutions and pinpoint the most impactful actions for the plant. These co-creation sessions were about more than just sharing ideas. They were helping them to build trust and shape their future together.

The Blue Beyond team combined these ideas with industry best practices to design a roadmap for the next 12 months and beyond. That roadmap was presented to the plant’s leadership and project teams and confirmed through alignment sessions, ensuring ownership and support for the immediate priorities. The roadmap serves as the plant’s blueprint for change — ambitious, yet grounded in the reality of employees’ needs and aspirations.

OUTCOME

The result of this extensive process was profound. With Blue Beyond’s help, the Ingredion plant’s leadership and project teams were able to uncover the values and needs among different worker groups, co-create a comprehensive roadmap to elevate the plant’s culture and employee experience, and crucially, foster trust between employees and leaders. Through dedicated communication and engagement, they laid the foundation for how the plant can become a high-performing and welcoming workplace.

As Blue Beyond and Ingredion gear up for Phase 2, the focus shifts to identifying action plans and owners for immediate priorities, then collaborating with project teams to do the work together. A robust reporting framework and metrics dashboard are in the works, alongside efforts to ensure alignment and engagement at every organizational level. The next phase is about turning vision into reality, continuous improvement, and ensuring that every voice is heard and every contribution valued.

This journey of transformation at the manufacturing plant is more than a case study in organizational change. It’s a testament to the power of listening, collaborative solution-finding, and the relentless pursuit of a workplace where every employee feels valued and empowered to contribute to the company’s success.