A global automaker with operations in Mexico wanted to strengthen its culture of integrity. Its integrity committee worked with Leaderlix on a program of talks on integrity with two goals: to communicate the company's ethical principles and to prepare team leaders to pass them on to their teams as integrity ambassadors. This article describes the challenge, what was done and what other organizations can take from the experience.
The context: reinforcing integrity across the group
The automotive group the company belongs to saw a need to reinforce its culture of integrity. The goal was for every employee to understand and apply the ethical principles that guide the group in all its actions.
The Mexican operation responded with an integrity committee. It started in the compliance area, has a presence in every area of the company and has since promoted integrity through several initiatives.
The challenge: engaging middle management
The committee ran into a barrier: team leaders were unclear about how to involve their teams in integrity initiatives, so cultural change depended almost entirely on the committee. In an organization with thousands of employees, the reach of the integrity programs depended on middle management taking part. Leaders lacked tools and integrity was seen as a "top-down" topic, which held back its adoption.
The solution: team leaders as integrity ambassadors
The committee and Leaderlix designed the program together. Its purpose was to bring together the existing integrity projects and train team leaders as "integrity ambassadors".
The central idea was for leaders to communicate integrity principles clearly and by example, instead of only giving instructions. The program worked on three fronts:
- Communication skills: tools and techniques to explain integrity principles in a clear, brief and convincing way.
- Real stories: identifying and telling stories that show why integrity matters in daily work.
- Recognition: participants were named "integrity ambassadors", which formalizes their role as an example for their team.
The company's integrity and compliance officer described it this way: "This is a completely disruptive method. For me it has been a great way to open my mind, explore new alternatives, step out of my comfort zone, and start the new challenge of communicating in a more efficient, inspiring, and motivating way."
The result: an in-person event streamed to every site
The program closed with an event of talks on integrity in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the safety measures of the time, it brought together a small group of middle management leaders in person and was streamed live to all of the group's offices and plants.
This two-part format took the message to a large share of the organization and reinforced the importance of integrity across all its areas.
Why Leaderlix
Leaderlix works with stories and with a different way of understanding thought leadership, two elements that matter when an organization seeks cultural change. Its philosophy, "We are in search of the ideas and stories that will change the world", matched the purpose of the integrity committee.
Lessons for other organizations
The experience shows that a culture of integrity needs every level of the organization, and that middle managers, prepared as ambassadors, are the ones who carry the message to each team.
- Senior leadership commitment: support from the most senior leaders is essential for cultural change.
- Clear communication: integrity principles have to be explained in a way every employee can follow.
- Tools for team leaders: they need resources and support to lead with integrity.
- Recognizing achievements: recognizing progress on integrity reinforces the message and encourages others to follow the example.
In short, the program turned team leaders into the main carriers of integrity inside the company. What worked was the combination of three things: senior leadership commitment, clear communication and team leaders with the tools to do it.