Farmlands Co-operative: A Leadership Development Case Study

About

In 2016, Farmlands Co-operative – New Zealand’s largest farmer-owned rural supplies and services co-operative – embarked on a three-year total business transformation to support their vision of preparing themselves and their stakeholders for the future. The ‘Braveheart’ programme is one of New Zealand’s most significant digital transformations, with ambitious strategic objectives and culture change required.

Objective

Farmlands worked with Impact in order to develop a leadership development programme that aligned with their vision and centred on their three strategic priorities. The programme aimed to increase leadership capacity and ensure that leaders were best prepared and equipped for the change journey.

Solution

The solution was composed of four modules: ‘Lead yourself’, ‘Build your impact’, ‘Take your people with you’ and ‘Deliver the results together’. 1:1 coaching and Action Learning Projects were also used, and all learning was applied in the workplace with a ‘whole of business’ approach.

Result

The programme supported an exceptional increase in productivity.
Farmlands produced another year of growth and profitability in 2018-19, with revenues higher than in 2017 and a profit of more than double the previous financial year.
Average sick leave and employee turnover decreased.
Employee engagement and wellbeing increased.
Participation in performance/career development sessions increased from 23% to 95%.

Impact, in partnership with Farmlands Co-operative, won a coveted Brandon Hall Group gold award for excellence in the 'Best Advance in Leadership Development' category and a Brandon Hall Group bronze award for excellence in the 'Best Learning Programme Supporting a Change Transformation Business Strategy' category.

Impact's win was announced on August 26th 2019. More information on the awards can be found here.