North Highland with Pladis

Pladis is the third-largest biscuit and confectionery manufacturer globally, formed by Yildiz Holding from five organisations in 2016. HR transformation forms a key pillar of their five-year strategy, which aims to improve operational efficiency and for Pladis to operate as one united global company. An HR transformation programme was mobilized to transform ways-of-working, processes and technology, impacting all ~26,000 employees working across 29 countries in five continents. This transformation was enabled through the implementation of a best-in-class HR system to store and manage people information.

North Highland was engaged to develop the business case and lead the change workstream. The objectives of the change workstream were to facilitate a seamless transition from multiple legacy tools and processes, drive employee adoption and ensure the benefits of the system were delivered. The team created and delivered change management activities utilizing the North Highland change framework, directing change across 29 countries using a central/regional governance approach.

The North Highland team brought significant expertise in HR transformation, communications and change. In addition the team had worked with Pladis during the business case and vendor selection stages, bringing a strong understanding of the complexity of the organisation. They worked with Pladis team members in each region to ensure that change management initiatives were effectively delivered on the ground and were tailored to local cultures and working environments.

Mobilising a change network of 410 employees spanning all sites and countries was key to the programme’s success, to effectively achieve the desired changes in end-user behaviour, ranging from factory and retail store employees through to office and HR colleauges. Language and cultural barriers presented a challenge to the programme and utilising a carefully managed change plan and working closely with a translation agency, the team ensured that targeted communications and training were cascaded globally in 12 languages.

Three months after launch, Workday has 23,897 active users, representing over 90% adoption of the system and delivering measurable benefits against the business case. Pladis now operates one system, with consistent global processes. This system provides a digital employee experience, which is intuitive for users, reducing the administrative burden on HR. For the first time, managers are able to make decisions based on data from the whole organisation, allowing more effective incentivisation, reward and recognition of talent.