Business Challenge:
In a context of rapid external growth and constant evolution of pathogens, Kersia wants to stay ahead of the curve in the hygiene industry. The company asked us how social innovation could help them reach their purpose: to provide a safe food world for all.
Kersia aims to foster a changemaker culture in the company: to have employees leading change internally, and to create a common culture and sense of belonging. This is particularly important in the context of rapid external growth.
Since food safety depends on pathogens which are evolving constantly, there is also an urgent need to continually adapt the company, which requires new ideas and thinking to bring about sustainable solutions. To do this, Kersia needs to find allies that also prioritize positive impact on planet and people, since complex problems cannot be solved alone.
The Transformation Journey :
We co-design this journey with a very committed cross-functional team, focusing on common values and shared ambition. We work with HR to secure buy-in from top leadership promoting a long-term shared vision. The CEO, Sébastien Bossard, is heavily involved in this partnership and leads by example by actively participating in the program.
The co-designing process resulted in an ambassador program aimed at empowering agents of change inside the company and creating a sense of belonging and inclusion. The program includes structured engagements with Social Entrepreneurs to spark out of the box thinking and to inspire ways to integrate social and environmental impact into daily work.
As one participant said, “The program made me see clearly social problems that I had previously overlooked. It opened my mind to new personal and work projects, which led me to work in a different way, more dedicated to the planet and its people. Personally, it helped me make the decision to develop new ideas for some problems that I had always seen but never known how to attack.”
The Impact :
Our partnership created a new internal space to present changemaking ideas that combined business and positive impact. This safe space to innovate simultaneously allowed for changemaking skills to be fostered.
This was the start of a snowball effect from the participants in the program in their local teams to new teams engaging in the program. The impact rippled throughout the company, and unexpected new topics emerged and existing ones were questioned through the lens of positive impact and changemaking (such as DEI, soft skills training for all, water use, etc.)