Uniq

Case study one: Redesigning major meetings to achieve real business benefits

Uniq is a leading European producer of chilled and frozen foods, with a turnover of some £800m based on sales to retail and foodservice clients in the UK and continental Europe.

Wingivers was appointed to review and refresh the format of the company's annual conference, with a particular focus on delivering real business benefits - not least by challenging the prevailing culture and changing operational behaviour.

The existing conference format had become tired and routine, generating a predictable level of cynicism from a percentage of the attendees. Prior to Wingivers' intervention, it had essentially been a vehicle for communicating management information to the rest of the organisation, with little or no facility for genuine interaction and debate.

Wingivers began by interviewing Uniq's executive team to get a clear picture of the conference's true purpose and objectives. Using this input from senior management, a meeting process was designed that would achieve these objectives while still meeting senior managers' own needs.

Involving senior managers in the design process helped them to gain 'ownership' as well as facilitating a high-quality result. At the same time, the rigorous design framework helped the executive team to feel more confident about mounting an event based on shared responsibilities and looser controls. (In practice, this meant going with whatever was emerging, rather than forcing the pace in the old, tightly-structured way.)

To help achieve this, Wingivers also provided practical training and support for conference speakers who, while used to presenting conventionally, were generally less familiar with the skills involved in facilitating sessions. The use of innovative practical exercises not only made the conference a popular success but also delivered lasting business benefits, notably in terms of individuals adopting a much more collaborative approach to existing operational issues. In this respect, personal networks first established at the conference have continued to prove effective.

Feedback to the remodelled event was extremely positive, with senior management regarding their involvement as a very productive use of their time. In short, the project succeeded in raising the bar for Uniq in terms of what could be expected from and achieved at meetings, and has set a useful precedent for subsequent conferences to be run on equally productive lines.

Case study two: Bringing a new boss up to speed

Uniq is a leading European producer of chilled and frozen foods, with a turnover of some £800m based on sales to retail and foodservice clients in the UK and continental Europe.

Having successfully transformed the business's supply-chain operations, the company's commercial director was invited to take over as managing director of the company's northern European business. However he needed to make a very fast start, as this area of the business was not in the best of shape.

Because of this, Wingivers were invited in by Uniq's CEO to provide the one-to-one executive coaching that would enable the new MD to effect a business turnaround in the shortest possible time. The strategy was to provide intensive coaching over an initial twelve-week period, followed by a programme of lighter-touch support. All contact was undertaken out of the sight of the business, primarily by phone with some additional face-to-face sessions.

The approach was based around a plan of action covering the new MD's first hundred days in office. It addressed key issues such as reviewing the business, evaluating and managing the incumbent executive team, identifying priority action areas and developing plans for dealing with these. As a result, business functions that were weak in terms of leadership and/or performance could be swiftly identified and appropriate remedial action taken.

It was also important for the new MD to gain credibility with the board in order to secure the required investment for restructuring and/or acquisition. To this end, the coaching also concentrated on formal communication within the business, especially the tone of key messages. In true Wingivers' style, all interventions and processes were co-designed with and exclusively deployed by the client.

It's important to stress that the focus of all the coaching was the individual, in the service of the business. And because Wingivers also worked with the CEO, it was possible to facilitate a sound working relationship between the two executives from the outset.

Not only was the pace of the new MD's development phenomenal (providing a new succession option for the CEO post), but the business's performance was also positive, leaving it ideally placed for further growth or disposal in line with overall company strategy.