GROHE CULTURE DEVELOPMENT
CASE STUDY
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About the client
GROHE is a global company that retails bathroom solutions and kitchen faucets.
GROHE is a global brand, that dominates the market with its variety of products. The cooperation stretches worldwide with more than 6000 employees. Every branch has its own cooperate culture beyond the cooperate culture that they constantly aspire to maintain through their values.
Developing custom visual solutions
The actual client of both projects was the HR Department of the Danish branch. This case study explores how visual solutions can become a tool when developing corporate cultures. Two examples will be presented – the Annual Culture Report and the Student Development Plan.
client love
To work with culture and involve an external partner in presenting which culture and parameters you have developed in your organisation are difficult to “put on paper”. Presenting what you stand for helps the rest of a global organisation to understand local initiatives, goals and actions – it creates understanding and alignment internally. On a local level, it supports existing team members – strengthening the strong culture that is the foundation for all success you have achieved and externally it supports your voice – your employer branding.
In other words – it is super important and to create this piece of work requires a trusted partner that both have a commercial mindset, and is people-focused, professional, invested and honest. This is what you get if you choose WIISUEL as a partner in creating material voicing your culture. Christine becomes part of the business, part of the team and wants to understand what she works with to ensure that it is illustrated in the right way – both to support your brand, but also to capture the true voice of your foundation; the culture!
RIKKE MOHR
LEADER, HR NORDIC & BALTIC, LIXIL EMENA
visual solutions as tools for developing culture
Developing culture within big cooperation is a challenging and important mission. Culture can be the glue that holds the teams together, and gives a renewed sense of purpose when employees are battling the everyday challenges that come with running a successful brand.
Developing the values and messaging about it is one side of the coin – communicating it, is another. In GROHE, communication around culture development is multifaceted. One part is translating it to employees, aligning and reevaluating, so that it comes apparent to both parties what it means to be a part of said culture. The other is expressing it to the rest of the cooperation – all other branches, headquarters and leaders that themselves try to keep a sense of general culture across all branches of the world.
Visual solutions can be a great tool for communicating and developing a culture in cooperation like GROHE because it serves as a mere object in the constant negotiations that is cultural development. Creating a physical object as a manifestation of ideas and initiatives, increase the chances of people interacting with it, and establishing a relationship with it, which is desirable with something as fleeting as culture.
coming across
The first example is the Cultura Audit, which is supposed to sum up the work that the region has done to develop the culture – the receivers are the leaders of the LIXIL group as well as top management in GROHE. They need to get proof that the region is actively working with the values and ideals that the organizations want to amplify.
The Culture Audit was – as a visual product – expression as a report with several chapters, going through the different achievements and reflections of the work. The design was largely loyal to the official brand guidelines, with some exceptions like illustrations, imagery and creative layout ideas to make it stand out as its own thing. This makes the report polished, and professional with a twist of personal expression that increases the sense of authenticity.
The project was successful and the person leading the project gained recognition from top management, for handing off a great Culture Audit.
a template for student evaluation and reflection
Another example of using visual solutions for developing culture is the template WIISUEL created for GROHE for evaluating their students through their student program. This was specifically developed for the Danish branch’s HR department.
Up until that point, they had used an excel sheet with a few columns to give an arbitrary score. They wanted something that created more value for their students as well as the assigned employees who would give them their reviews.
The idea was to make a custom template (for Microsoft Office) to a ‘booklet’ that took them through questions they would have to reflect upon, as well as making space for the reviewer. The booklet could then be exported as a PDF and printed, so they had a report of their time in the student program, that sums up their own reflections and feedback of the other employees.
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