Lakeland Dairies
Connecting Leaders.
Inspiring Teams.
Embedding Values.
Challenge
In an industry undergoing significant change and transition, Lakeland Dairies, a farmer-owned global co-operative with a 130 year legacy was continuing to grow and evolve. As the organisation expanded internationally and activated a revitalised strategy, it faced a critical cultural challenge. It needed to ensure that people across all locations and functions were aligned around a shared set of organisational values. To support the organisation’s growth and direction, the values needed to be clearly understood, consistently demonstrated, and embedded in the everyday actions of its people. The challenge was not just defining the values, but embedding them meaningfully throughout the organisation.
Solution
Following our work supporting Lakeland Dairies on their corporate and sustainability strategies, we were asked to help bring their new values to life through a leadership engagement programme. Our approach was designed to be participative and inclusive from the outset. We began by listening; interviewing members of the executive team, hosting leadership workshops, gathering personal stories, and uncovering the qualities that define the Lakeland Dairies culture. These insights formed the foundation of our theme “Together for a Better Future. Our Values, Our Way.”
We designed a comprehensive engagement programme centred on leadership. The aim was to equip leaders with the confidence, language and tools to engage their teams in a meaningful way. This included the creation of a compelling narrative and short film, “The Lakeland Story,” which framed the past, present and future of the organisation in the context of its values. We ran senior level workshops to align Leadership Team on how the values enable strategy and how they must show up in everyday decisions.
To embed the programme at scale, we developed and led a series of Train the Trainer sessions, enabling nominated leaders to cascade the programme to their teams. Every element, from the training materials and exercises to the room setup and language, was carefully considered to ensure the experience felt relevant, real and inspiring. The result was an organisation wide values engagement programme built to connect people to purpose through the actions of its leaders.
Value Add
We brought clarity, structure and momentum to a business critical cultural initiative. Our role went beyond creative development we acted as strategic partners and facilitators, helping Lakeland Dairies embed their values from the top down and the inside out. The programme gave leaders the tools, language and confidence to own the values, champion them with their teams, and integrate them into daily ways of working. It created the conditions for a stronger, more values driven culture, one that supports performance, pride and a shared vision for the future.