Herbs, spice and a (very) nice team

You know you’re onto a good thing when you’ve been in business for over a hundred years.

The Client

McCormick is a global herb and spice company, founded in 1889. With products sold in over 150 countries and territories, their products can be found everywhere from your local supermarket shelves through to delectable meals in your favourite restaurants. 

McCormick

The Challenge

As the coronavirus crisis swept Australia in the beginning of March 2020, McCormick Australia moved quickly to a remote working environment for large sections of its business. With global uncertainty mounting week after week it became clear that the shift to virtual collaboration and leading teams through uncertainty was not a short-term situation but rather, a long-term approach.

Having been early adopters of remote work at the beginning of the pandemic, the McCormick HR team knew that they’d need to provide contextual and relevant support to their leaders as soon as possible. With traditional leadership principles being challenged in the remote work environment and anticipation of team motivation levels dropping as the pandemic progressed, there was an immediate need for a multi-faceted learning approach. One that could be delivered virtually in a group setting, without causing too much disruption in day-to-day operations. 

McCormick

The Solution

In order to provide the most valuable learning experience for their leaders, we worked with McCormick to develop and deliver their McCormick Leadership Masterclass Series. The four-part learning experience covered a variety of topics grounded in science including Mastering Motivation, Virtual Leadership Skills, Building an Antifragile Mindset and Creating Opportunities in Crisis. 

Delivered virtually from the world-class PTV studio, the McCormick Leadership Masterclass Series took place across four 90-minute training sessions, each a fortnight apart, to allow leaders to put their learnings into practice along the way. To ensure that all 90 attendees were able to attend the sessions, we provided flexible learning options with sessions run in both morning and afternoon time slots.

With the use of multiple camera angles and virtual engagement activities we were able to effectively deliver an outstanding learning experience to the group of 90 McCormick Australia leaders who tuned in virtually from across the country. To strengthen the overall experience we worked with McCormick executives to host each session; allowing them to set the context around the learning pre and post session, as well as providing their perspective on organisational application.

McCormick
McCormick
McCormick
McCormick

The Outcome

Overall, the Masterclass Series provided McCormick Australia leaders with practical tools and strategies to manage the motivation levels within their teams, lead their people virtually, remain resilient in the face of increasing uncertainty and draw strength from the challenges they and their teams will face in the ongoing change environment. 

This relevant and contextual learning has set their leaders, and the teams they lead, up for long-term success as they continue to refine their approach to remote work. The virtual learning experience was so highly rated by attendees and organisers that the McCormick Australia team are exploring the possibility of providing ongoing virtual learning opportunities and keeping the McCormick Leadership Masterclass Series ‘brand’ alive into 2021.

McCormick
Blair Lindsay

Testimonial

McCormick

The Pragmatic Thinking team delivered high impact virtual learning to 90 of our senior leaders scattered throughout Australia. Their uncompromising high standards and energy in imparting knowledge from the PTV studio was an overwhelming success. It hit the mark with the participants and nailed what we set out to achieve. Their results focus and professionalism together with a “whatever it takes” attitude and a healthy dose of humour made it a highly interactive and fun learning experience.

Blair Lindsay

Human Resources Director - Australia