Case Study: McCormick

McCormick & Company is a global leader in flavor and one of the most respected and familiar names in the industry. In business for over 130 years, McCormick manufactures, markets, and distributes spices, seasoning mixes, condiments, and other flavorful products to the entire food industry—retail outlets, food manufacturers, and food service businesses. Their herbs and spices come from 80 different countries, while their brands reach consumers in more than 170 countries and territories. McCormick is a team of approximately 14,000 employees located around the world—and they are growing. At McCormick, they believe in respect, recognition, inclusion, and collaboration, based on the highest ethical values for their employees.

Driving to a desired culture is an always-on long term priority. 

However, steps and progress are not always equal across sites.

Some of the challenges:

• Having engaged leaders and champions is powerful

• Ongoing communication is critical - to maintain engagement & momentum

• don’t be afraid to repeat the foundational messages

• Provide central structure but be flexible to meet local and cultural needs

• Sites manage own action plans with global governance and effective shared learnings & collaboration across sites

• Celebrate achievements - positive reinforcement and ‘re-energise’

• Operational culture of quality integrated as key criteria in risk scoring for sites

• Maintain long term initiatives and adjust focus as required

Learnings and insights:

• Employee and Leadership changes

• Increasing priorities and pressure points across sites

• Different culture maturity levels between sites

• Varying engagement levels and strategies across sites

• Locally managed action plans are not always purposeful

Our guiding principles to driving positive behaviours from the start

A recent opening of a new facility bought together the following learnings:

Reference: Campden BRI (2023), Culture Excellence 9th Annual Seminar