About the Company
A leading global tobacco enterprise is a multinational consumer goods company founded in 1999, operating across more than 130 countries with a workforce of over 46,000 employees. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the organization manages a broad portfolio spanning conventional tobacco products and reduced-risk alternatives, serving diverse consumer segments worldwide.
Since 2023, the organization has been navigating a significant cultural transformation, shifting from a traditionally hierarchical leadership model toward one defined by openness, inclusion, and adaptability. This shift, anchored in a new cultural framework called “Our Way,” created a pressing need to realign its global leadership population with the behaviors and mindsets the organization’s future demanded.
Business Challenges
The organization’s new cultural direction required leaders to lead differently, yet decades of hierarchical norms made that shift difficult to operationalize. Reaching a 46,000-person global workforce with meaningful, behavior-changing development compounded the challenge.
Key challenges included:
- Legacy mindset: Leaders were shaped by decades of directive, hierarchical norms that conflicted with the new cultural direction.
- Capability gaps: People managers lacked the practical tools and skills needed to lead with inclusion, empowerment, and agility.
- Global scale: Reaching over 46,000 employees across 130 countries with consistent, meaningful development posed a significant logistical challenge.
- Low engagement risk: Time-pressured leaders routinely deprioritized development programs, creating adoption risk from the outset.
- No shared behavioral framework: There was no unified reference point connecting leadership behaviors to the organization’s new cultural identity.
