Arla Foods.

Christina Juel Hegaard

Please provide a brief overview of your experiences in the HR industry. What role do you play at Arla Foods?

With the advent of the IT revolution, a major transformation has occurred in the business world, transforming the fundamental concepts of project management. Consequently, change management has emerged as one of its essential elements. Unlike traditional project management, the emphasis has shifted from resource allocation and planning to guide employees and clients in an ever-changing business environment. My role at Arla Foods has been overseeing the change management aspect of project management for the past 12 years. However, during the last five years, I have made significant attempts to evolve change management into change leadership, aiming to establish it as a core competency within the organisation.

From a competency standpoint, leaders must consider change management when making decisions. The ability to envision change, actively engage others in it, firmly anchor it, and integrate it into daily activities are all qualities that we at Arla Foods believe are necessary for effective leadership. When we initiate new projects, we strive to ensure that the leaders can envision the project's future, actively engage in and implement necessary changes, and achieve successful outcomes.

“At Arla Foods, we adopt a data-driven approach to assess performance, derive lessons from failures, and acknowledge achievements through measurable data.”

In the context of change leadership, what challenges currently affect the industry and exert a significant impact?

One of the main issues affecting industries in today's volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world is the pervasive trend of digitalisation. Businesses from all industries are debating how to convert their businesses into digital entities successfully. Additionally, there is a significant focus on establishing a sense of belonging within organisations from an HR perspective. This change includes more than just focusing on employee retention; it encourages inclusivity and a sense of belonging among employees. However, these trends are not mutually exclusive; the industry's most significant challenge is discovering an appropriate balance between adjusting to a digital workplace while fostering diversity, inclusivity, and belonging. Adding to these trends is climate change, that has prompted several changes in how companies operate and has increased the focus on a sustainable future.

From a technology and practices standpoint, are there any existing or upcoming innovations that you find particularly effective in streamlining change leadership strategies? What tools or methodologies do you anticipate will play a significant role in managing strategies within the change leadership space in the future?

At Arla Foods, we prioritise a unique approach to change leadership and do not rely on a multitude of tools and templates. Instead, we have invested significant time and effort over the years to ensure that leaders have access to our tools and templates. We use our online presence to empower and educate leaders, ensuring the tools and templates are readily available and easily accessible. Additionally, we leverage podcasts as a means to share valuable insights, and these podcasts are accessible not only to leaders but also to our colleagues. Looking ahead, we also recognise the beneficial implications of AI and other automation technologies on business operations, especially in the context of ongoing digitalisation. While some ethical concerns may exist regarding the use of AI applications such as ChatGPT, it is undeniable that AI has brought about a considerable level of convenience.

Can you share a specific project within the organisation you have been involved in where change leadership played a significant role and proved successful?

As an experienced change leadership practitioner, I strongly emphasise learning from unsuccessful projects. One notable case within Arla Foods that exemplifies this is the Calcium project. It provided us with invaluable insights and lessons that proved crucial in understanding various aspects of business, including measuring change, spotting obstacles, and figuring out areas that needed more focus. We effectively accomplished our primary objective of transforming the organisation across multiple fundamental processes, enabling us to conduct a comprehensive self-analysis with this data-driven project.

What advice would you give your peers and emerging industry leaders on positioning themselves as change leaders and effectively addressing the discussed challenges?

When approaching change initiatives, it is crucial to adopt a data-driven approach. By focusing on measurable outcomes and aligning actions with tangible results, we can effectively link efforts to quantifiable achievements. This gives us a foundation to evaluate performance and enables us to draw lessons from unsuccessful attempts while acknowledging positive outcomes. As a change leader, it is essential to cultivate a leader-lead approach, empowering others to drive change through a spider web-like network of influence. Engaging leaders early on enables them to lead the change agenda. Additionally, for successful large-scale changes in global companies, initiating a movement from the bottom up fosters engagement, passion, and momentum among employees. Balancing top-down framing with bottom-up empowerment is the key to fostering impactful change.