AkzoNobel | Global Business Unit
When a $5 billion division of AkzoNobel — one of the world’s leading paints and coatings companies — set out a new strategic direction, they knew a new structure alone wouldn’t deliver the results.
To make the strategy stick, they needed a culture that could drive it.
One that their people wouldn’t just understand, but own.
Our Approach: Build culture from the inside out
Culture isn’t created in boardrooms. It’s created through people.
For culture and strategy to align, you need more than a top-down declaration — you need a clear, collective understanding of what’s changing, why it matters, and what it looks like in action.
That’s where we came in.
We designed a global programme of participative events and workshops to get the whole organisation involved in building their future culture — from leadership to the front line.
Bringing leadership together — and setting the tone
We kicked things off in Texas, USA, with three high-energy days that brought the senior leadership team together to define the culture they wanted to build.
The agenda? Participation over presentation.
No lectures. No death by PowerPoint.
Instead, we used Appreciative Inquiry methods, World Café Sessions, and real-time graphic recording to capture ideas, spark conversations, and surface the strengths that would power their new culture.
The programme included:
- Leadership storytelling — powerful, personal stories to show what real leadership looks like in action.
- Creative workshops — to challenge existing values and behaviours, and define what needed to change.
- Future mapping — what does success look like, how do we get there, and how do we bring everyone with us?
- Team building (Wild West style) — immersive exercises on a live movie set to build trust, test resilience, and bring “we, not me” thinking to life.
Making it real for the whole organisation
To turn the leadership team’s energy into action, we created a series of local workshops to engage employees at every level.
These sessions captured stories, ideas, and experiences from across the business — making sure everyone had a voice in the culture they were building.
We developed a clear, visual identity for the programme: “Winning Together to Grow.”
This brought all communications under one banner, signalling the importance of the new strategy and culture at every touchpoint.
The journey was captured in a narrative book — combining vision, strategy, values, behaviours, and an inspiring call to action from the CEO.
A clear message: This is your culture. Own it. Build it. Live it.
Keeping the momentum alive
Because cultures aren’t created in a moment — they’re built over time.
We developed an ongoing communications programme to keep the culture alive:
- Regular intranet and email updates
- Local manager toolkits and briefings
- A new global reward and recognition programme to celebrate cultural wins and behaviours in action
The result? A culture that didn’t just support the strategy — it drove it.
Because culture isn’t what you say. It’s what you do — together.
To discuss how GNIUS can create unique and engaging programmes to inspire culture change in your organisation contact Michael on 0330 088 0506