Rockwool’s People & Brands initiative was launched by its president and chief executive officer, Eelco van Heel in 2003 with the aim of setting the strategic direction for the business.

This initial launch was managed and led personally by van Heel in the form of ‘CEO road shows’ to each operating company. Although these events proved successful in communicating the vision and mission for the organisation, they did not succeed in generating buy-in from the participating managers.

Based on feedback from the initial launch of People & Brands, van Heel took action and refocused the initiative. In the second road shows he established a good dialogue and acceptance of People & Brands throughout the organisation. However, although the business had begun to understand the message, it was clear that van Heel was the single driving force behind the initiative.

I think it’s fair to comment that although the road shows generated a great deal of enthusiasm and energy from the participants, the content was very much regarded as ‘my project’. As a result the managers felt unable to take on responsibility to implement the messages in their own working lives and operating companies, explains van Heel.

A participant of the initial ‘CEO road shows’ agreed with van Heel’s analysis: The first launch of People & Brands was not a success. The first implementation and road show was perceived with quite some criticism. But Eelco listened and the second release was good due to a couple of reasons: simplicity so the messages were easily understood; it was communicated better; and the intentions were met so everybody understood it. It was a very positive experience, he says.

Moving forward to make a positive impact

Rockwool’s management population was heavily involved in the second rollout of People & Brands Leading People & Brands – in summer 2006. By encouraging managers to take responsibility the programme has made a positive impact on changing the attitude, behaviour and culture of the business.

This phase of the initiative was heavily focused on how managers should lead the change process by implementing the People & Brands strategy. It has been a key component of the programme’s success that managers take ownership of the strategy and delivery of Leading People & Brands, explains Per Geisler Hansen, senior coach and programme director with Mannaz (formerly DIEU, the Danish leadership institute) and Rockwool programme director who played a key role in the development and management of the Rockwool programme.

The People & Brands initiative has been a strong foundation to enable employees throughout the Rockwool Group to understand where the company is going and what is required from individuals and teams in order to get there. The common values that are established by People & Brands help us to align all elements of the organisation, including employees, customers, business partners and other stakeholders, within the company’s overall strategy, says Robert Walecki, HR director, Rockwool Polska.

The People & Brands programme is a key factor in Rockwool’s competitiveness,” adds Jakob Soerensen, senior vice president for corporate affairs and a member of the Rockwool Group management group. “If we had not evolved as an organisation we would have lost momentum and our competitors would have gained an advantage; instead, we have grown stronger as a team and a business, he explains.

A strong business with a family history

The Rockwool Group’s heritage is entrenched firmly in the history of the founding Kähler family, whose focus for the development of the business was very metrics and process led – it was a quality driven, engineer heavy organisation. To continue and further grow the business, van Heel recognised how important it was to overhaul this culture and generate a value-led organisation.

Leading People & Brands focuses on the soft skills and overall ability of managers in the Rockwool Group, encouraging them to mobilise their people to take action and make a difference. Shifting the Rockwool culture to a position where its key focus was people management required major cultural and behavioural change.

As the Rockwool Group transitioned out of the direct leadership of Tom Kähler it needed a new and fresh identity. The People & Brands initiative was something the company could rally behind and provide that identity. This also allowed for the development of a new strategic direction around People & Brands which, I think, the company needed, says Trent Ogilvie, managing director of Roxul, the Rockwool Group’s North American subsidiary.

It was important that the business invested in something with staying power; the People & Brands initiative could not be a ‘one hit wonder’ and this has certainly not been the case. Since 2003 the initiative has been refined and improved and has provided a consistent rallying point for the development of many aspects of the organisation, he adds.

Creating a workshop – not a training programme

Leading People & Brands is designed to be a workshop, not a training programme, says Bente Thomassen, senior coach and programme director, who partnered with Rockwool to develop and deliver the Leading People & Brands workshops.

It is a two-and-a-half day workshop that offers leadership development to Rockwool leaders through a variety of methods. These include outlining the company’s strategic direction by the CEO, offering participants feedback on personal leadership issues and accessing relevant leadership theory, as well as participating in peer discussions and reflection groups on issues addressed and highlighted by participants, she explains.

Participants in the Leading People & Brands workshops are encouraged to feel that they work in a successful organisation with a positive future. They are taking part in a culture change programme that focuses on how individuals within the business can change every day and how this change can happen. Through these positive changes in peoples’ action and behaviour, individuals and teams can contribute to improving profitability and performance, she says.

Rockwool managers and their management teams are invited to attend the workshops and explore how, based on the information they receive, they can take the implementation of the strategy forward within their own working and operating environments, share best practice with their colleagues and create a culture of feedback within their team, says Thomassen.

The programme focuses on improving the quality of management within the business and explains to participants that good management is not simply about reaching financial targets. Managers are encouraged to be better at developing and communicating with their employees, she continues.

For a programme like People & Brands to succeed the values and ideas have to be endorsed in a very active way and demonstrated by all management layers within the business. We put a lot of effort into ensuring the programme did not become another ‘paper tiger’ or folder on the shelf and we have found that the more embedded People & Brands becomes within the business, the more passionate Rockwool people are about it, says Rockwool’s Jakob Soerensen.

Translating the People & Brands initiative

A key element of People & Brands was also its ability to adapt to the individual cultures and needs of the subsidiaries and OPCOs within the Rockwool Group. As managing director of Roxul I was keen for us to adopt the People & Brands strategy as our own. In practice this meant adopting the mission and values as our own and then communicating a distinct, North American, version of People & Brands. This took the initiative from a corporate level directly into the day-to-day operations of Roxul, explains Trent Ogilvie.

The same is true in Rockwool Polska, according to its HR director, Robert Walecki. It was important for us to translate the overall People & Brands strategy into our local circumstances to ensure our own strategies contribute to the overall success of the organisation and this initiative specifically. We achieved this through local roadshows and communication meetings to cascade the Polish strategy throughout the organisation. By delivering People & Brands in this way we were able to help employees understand the strategy and inspire them, enabling them to recognise their personal responsibility for fulfilling the strategy, he says.

Getting tough on the soft side

Through the workshops Eelco van Heel encourages all people to be ambassadors of the Rockwool Group and represent the Group’s brand values in all that they do. He emphasises his belief that the organisation truly has the right people and capabilities to drive it forward, explains Geisler Hansen.

For chief executive, Eelco van Heel, the rationale for the Leading People & Brands programme is simple: It is about getting tough on the soft side of things and encouraging managers to take responsibility and action and do what they need to do. It is not about asking our managers to be harsh, but simply doing the job that they are in place to do. We want good guys in our business who take responsibility and say what needs to be said.

This view is supported by Herman Voortman, group managing director of Rockfon, a company within the Rockwool Group. Leading People & Brands makes it clear what kind of organisation we want to be; where we want to focus our business activity and the type of management behaviour and organisational culture that we want to deliver and experience. Our corporate values had been in place for some time, but through the vehicle of Leading People & Brands we were able to talk openly about the kind of company we want to be and the behaviour that is linked to it.

Cascading delivery throughout the organisation

The approach recommended by Mannaz with which to deliver the Leading People & Brands workshops was to cascade the responsibility for the programme and communicate the information and related issues right through the organisation.

Delivering the workshops in this way highlights the organisation’s endeavour to focus on the need for good management on all levels whilst still keeping the Groups focus. It was about thinking globally and acting locally, explains Mannaz’s Geisler Hansen

This cascading approach offers a very personal way for individuals to take responsibility for change and encourages them to ask ‘what can I do as an individual and manager’ and ‘what can we do as a team’ to make change happen? The format also provides a visual demonstration of handing over responsibility and change to the next level of the organisation. And by receiving, accepting and taking responsibility for People & Brands in this way, the business was able to create a high level of engagement with this initiative, says Geisler Hansen.

Passing the baton of responsibility

The way in which Leading People & Brands was cascaded throughout the organisation was, arguably, a burden on the Rockwool Group’s resources in terms of managers’ time and financial commitment. Most managers were required to spend twice as much of their time in workshops than would be the case in many organisations. Although this was very demanding, the way in which the managers have accepted and passed on the ‘baton of responsibility’ highlights the positive impact of this approach and the insight and engagement shown by Eelco van Heel and Group HR continues Geisler Hansen.

The pilot of Leading People & Brands in October 2006 involved Rockwool Group management and the managing directors of the Group’s operating companies. The managing directors who participated in this pilot were then invited back to participate in the second phase of the programme – held in France in spring 2007 – and lead sessions with their own management teams.

Once the ‘baton of responsibility’ had been handed to this group of 32 senior managers (including divisional managing directors, senior vice presidents, and general managing directors) in phase one, they led phase two of the programme. Here the knowledge and responsibility for change was shared with their local management teams. Phase three is being run locally and hosted by the local managing director who shares the knowledge and responsibility for People & Brands with their local management teams, he explains.

A programme driven by personality

The success of the Leading People & Brands programme was very dependent on the personality of Eelco van Heel as a leader, explains Mannaz’s Thomassen.

His vision for the future of the business is clear. He acknowledges how painful it is for the organisation to change in the way he is asking, but by being open and honest with the management team and maintaining a dialogue about the change, he has been able to engage them with the change, she says.

Eelco’s passion for the workshops and his commitment to the programme’s development is evident in his attendance at every planning meeting and in the workshops of both phase one and two. He also follows up with participants of every workshop to personally discuss their experience and feedback of the seminar, agrees Geisler Hansen from Mannaz.

There is, of course, a danger with being too close to the programme and it is true that at the beginning of the Leading People & Brands rollout Eelco was very much seen as pushing the programme through the business. In this phase the project was regarded as his ‘baby’ and as a result it was important for him to let go, trust his managers and share responsibility for its success; I am sure that it has been difficult from time to time to let go but he has definitely succeeded in doing this and we now see on all levels a commitment to take personal responsibility adds Geisler Hansen.

Encouraging managers to seek development

All managers involved in the Leading People & Brands workshops are required to participate in 360-degree feedback surveys. The 360-degree feedback tool was designed by Mannaz and has been adapted to align specifically with Rockwool’s values. There are over 120 questions in the survey, measuring perception of management quality.

The feedback offered by the 360-degree surveys focuses on leadership, management capabilities and competencies. The outcome of the survey is the basis for an open discussion about management and management behaviour within the organisation and for many Rockwool managers it was something they had never experienced before, explains Mannaz’s Thomassen.

The management development that was made available to Rockwool’s managers in the Leading People & Brands sessions really sparked their curiosity about how they can develop themselves and how they can work better; they have experienced something and now want more from it, she says.

I think that the management team was genuinely excited about the 360-degree feedback exercise. It was an opportunity to review our working methods and behaviours and for many of us, I think, it was a real eye-opener! The one-to-one sessions with Mannaz business coaches that ran alongside the 360-degree exercise enabled me to discuss specific issues and management styles and offered me new ideas and thinking, says Rockfon’s Herman Voortman, who participated in the first Leading People & Brands session in France.

We have an outstanding quality of people and will do anything within our capabilities to continuously develop them further, comments Eelco van Heel.

Making a positive business impact

The impact of Leading People & Brands on the business is not simply about measuring the bottom line,” explains Eelco van Heel. “The continued growth of our share price shows that the business is doing well and based on this we need to focus on sharing knowledge and experiences within the organisation and learning together and from each other about how we can improve and grow.

The Leading People & Brands workshops have introduced a real feedback culture within the business and our managers now readily accept being measured as managers and being offered feedback on what they are doing well and where they could improve. The business has also established a more open dialogue between various business units and operating companies and I am continuously aware of examples where managers have put the Group interests ahead of those of individual companies, says Rockwool’s van Heel.

People & Brands has given people a sense of direction. It has given is a consistency of approach to everything we do and it’s important for us to maintain this momentum. It has encouraged a culture of feedback throughout the organisation and this is obviously having an impact, says Jakob Soerensen.

As we have rolled the programme out over the last four years we have asked our employees’ opinion on issues such as management style and their relationship with their managers and we have seen a steady improvement in their feedback as the organisational culture has changed, continues Soerensen.

We have also seen positive results in the way employees think about their roles. Younger managers are implementing the values and are beginning to live and breathe the ideas at the heart of People & Brands. In my own team, for example, people actively and openly question if something matches our values. They ask if something is honest or efficient and I encourage and welcome this debate, he says.

This is a view shared by Herman Voortman from Rockfon: As a Group, I think Rockwool is quickly learning to develop a shared, global outlook that will bring business benefits across the organisation. For example, we are setting up best practice meetings to learn from each other to positively change the way we work.

Leading People & Brands has been a strong rallying point for the organisation, adds Roxul’s Ogilvie. It represents a new strategic direction for the business and for both employees and the company as a whole it has enabled us to identify with the new strategic direction, remember it and make it a part of our lives Its success is firmly rooted in its longevity and consistency. Since it’s introduction in 2003 it has branched off into Leading People & Brands and has introduced 360-degree appraisals into the business. However, it has always remained rooted in the mission and values of the Rockwool Group.

People & Brands has given the Group a common language and reference point, making it much easier to discuss goals and objectives within the organisation and it has also positioned people management and strong leadership as key skills to develop within the business. Its positive impact can be seen in a number of specific projects, including the development of an appraisal system based on organisational strategy and values and a leadership programme for managers based around the People & Brands issues, comments Walecki.

As a manager People & Brands has enabled me to focus my efforts on strategic actions with measurable results and given me the tools to explain the company strategy and direction. As a result I have been able to prepare actions and initiatives with the Polish HR department. These include building an HR strategy, mission and values based on the Rockwool Polska strategy and demonstrating ‘leadership’ as a key role of managers. I have also been in a position to incorporate the corporate values as a key part of appraisals and assessments and encourage alignment and consistency between the output of tasks and the overall corporate goal, he adds.

Moving forward to continue change

As a business we really need to live and breathe People & Brands and there are already those within the organisation who have adopted the values and integrated them into their outlook and behaviour. People have a new passion and enthusiasm and this is being noticed and rewarded, says Jakob Soerensen.

I think the Leading People & Brands workshops have been a positive experience for the Rockwool Group and have generated the energy and enthusiasm for the business to move forward, says Mannaz’s Geisler Hansen.

The programme has been cascaded further into individual companies. Some companies, for example Rockfon, are keen to expose all employees to the Leading People & Brands experience and we are working with them to encourage all employees to become involved and participate in the next, Living People & Brands, initiative, he says.

We now have a number of tools with which to communicate our corporate values and as the messages of Leading People & Brands are cascaded further through Living People & Brands at the end of March 2008, I think we will continue to see positive change in employee behaviour and their engagement with our corporate values, comments Rockfon’s Voortman.

As a business we need to ensure that People & Brands doesn’t end here. We need to keep our focus on the positive outcomes we have achieved to date and continue to create activities to engage our people in truly living the People & Brands strategy, he says.

Rockwool Group values

The Rockwool values make it possible for each of us to navigate professionally in a business environment that is getting more and more complicated, says CEO, Eelco van Heel.

Understanding of and adherence to our values is essential for being able to make the right decisions and to implement the right actions. Otherwise the Rockwool Group will drown in bureaucracy, policies and manuals and be the victim of unnecessary delays in all links of our decision making process, he says.

Our values are the basis of our thinking and the way we act. They make it possible to conduct our business and decide quickly and efficiently with the least possible level of bureaucracy. They determine the way we do business, the way we work together and the way we want to be perceived by our surroundings, he explains.

Rockwool’s corporate values can be summarised as follows:

• Honesty – we are honest by being true to ourselves and approach out surroundings in the same way. We keep a keen eye on detecting difficulties.
• Reliability – we are reliable by being trustworthy in what we say and how we act. Therefore we, as well as our stakeholders, will be able to plan and operate in an optimal way to the benefit of all.
• Efficiency – we are efficient by taking the necessary time to do our homework properly as thorough preparation takes us a big step towards our goals. Once the decision has been taken, we execute fast under the motto, ‘do, don’t excuse’ and communicate accurately.
• Dedication – we are dedicated by being passionate to fulfil our colleagues’, as well as external customers’ and stakeholders’ requirements, and enjoy doing so. We live up to the maximum of our capabilities, act proactively and stimulate creativity, flexibility and entrepreneurship. We realise that an appropriate balance between work and private life is essential.
• Responsibility – we are responsible when acting with respect for the interests of all our stakeholders in mind. We are at all times accountable for our actions and in this context being aware that we are ambassadors of the Rockwool Group and representatives of its brand values.